Shattered, Forgotten & Treasured
by jaymelynn143
Summary: It's the start of Senior year. Veronica and Logan must travel through the pitfalls of mistakes. They both question if married life is all that it's cracked up to be. Duncan has issues that is tearing friends apart, will they be able survive all of it. *Sequel to Promises***
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is a sequel to Promises, Escapes &amp; LoVe. I am just toying with the concept. I hope you all like it.

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 1: Senior Year

**Veronica**

"I was hoping it would be you," the person on the other side says half drunk as they fall forward. Logan helps steady them as Leo makes an appearance. This hasn't turned out to be the best night or should I say morning.

"I'll call the Sheriff," Leo says as I walk behind Logan and him.

"What the hell happened?" Logan asks as I grab a bottle of water for Duncan.

"I was driving toward the Sheriff's station and I was stopped by the PCH bikers," Duncan says as I see Leo coming back with the first aid kit.

"Why did they stop you?" I ask as I pull out some wipes to clean his face.

"They just started yelling about how I murdered Lilly and I was going to pay for it. One of them said he heard it was the brother on the radio that killed Lilly," Duncan cries as I look toward Logan.

"Duncan," I was about to reassure him when there was another knock on the door.

"You can't just barge in here," Leo was saying as Lamb and Sacks both walked into our home like they owned the place.

"We are here for Duncan Kane," Lamb snaps as he shoves a sheet of paper into Logan's face.

"Are you serious?" I half snap and question at the same time.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Duncan is wanted in connection with the murder of Felix Toombs," Lamb sneers at me as I watch helplessly as he cuffs Duncan and walks him toward the door, but not before shoving him roughly into the railing of the stairs making him wince.

"Don't say a word Duncan. I'll call your mom," Logan says as I reach for him. He pulls me to his side as we watch Duncan being lead away.

It seemed like things just got worse from there. Duncan was charged with Felix's murder, and both his parents went to Napa to get away from the media. When Duncan was released from jail he moved into the Grand. The media that surrounded him was hard to stand, but Logan and I wanted t be there for our friend.

Duncan though broke up with Meg out of the blue, and wanted nothing to do with Logan. I tried to be there for him even though he was turning on all of his friends, but had to draw the line one night when he scared me.

**Flashback**

_Logan had gone out to the beach behind our home with dick to surf and I was left alone with Duncan. We were sitting on the couch talking when things changed._

"_I kept thinking that if we just stuck by you, that you'd get past this-this phase and you'd be you again," I say as he looks hard at me with an expression I couldn't quite depict._

"_What are you talking about?" he half snaps at me getting agitated with the situation._

"_I can't stand by you. Not with you and those kids who are refusing to let everything get back to normal. Someone's gonna get killed, Duncan. You won't talk to Logan or Dick anymore. Logan tries hard to get you to hang out with us, but you refuse," I say emotionally as I look toward the beach._

"_If you haven't forgotten Veronica s__omeone already has, did you forget that already? And most of the people in this town think I did it," he says louder as he shifts to sit on the arm of the couch instead of being seated next to me. He is becoming increasingly more agitated and emotional._

"_The people you are talking about are my friends; __they've got my back," he yells at me._

"_It's not about protection, Duncan. It's about pride. Duncan you have more friends than you think, but you are pushing the people who really care about away," I say urgently as I try to calm him down. Duncan puts his hand up to his forehead, as if the words I am saying are lies._

"_And, the thing that I can't stand or get over is that…I'm pretty sure there's a part of you that's having fun with all of this," I stutter slightly as I say the words out loud._

"_Fun? Fun?" he snaps at me totally standing as he begins to pace like what I am saying is lies. He stops walking and turns around angrily, as he grabs a lamp that was beside the couch tossing it across the room as it slammed into the wall shattering. I jump frightened as he hovers above me._

"_My parents have abandoned me, my friends aren't my friends, my best friends' dad murdered my sister and the one person I love with all my heart is shattering me with her words. You think I am having fun?" he shouts angrily at me. Logan __storms in, while Duncan doesn't notice, "__Answer me, okay? Just tell me the-," he is still yelling as Logan grabs him from behind. Logan locks his arm above his head as he pushes him into the wall holding him there. I am having a hard time catching my breath, as I watch unhappy as the scene unfolds before me._

"_You don't talk to Veronica that way. You're leaving now and you're never coming back," he says as Leo moves closer to the guys. I turn my head and take a deep breath as I drop my head in frustration. I had really hoped to get through to him_.

***End***

I haven't been alone with Duncan since then. I actually haven't really seen much of him. Dick told Logan that Duncan had been spending a little more time over at his house with his younger brother. It bothered me that Duncan closed us out, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having a life.

"I can't believe school starts tomorrow," Dick mutters as he splashes water at Mac who falls backwards in the pool.

"I don't want summer to end," Meg says as she rubs her back. Meg had confided in me that she was pregnant, but wasn't sure what to do just yet. She knew it was Duncan's but when he broke up with her; she began staying over more.

"I know the feeling. Our dad says we have to attend classes," Logan says as he looks over at me. I had to laugh at his words because the moment his dad was arraigned and arrested for Lilly's murder my dad officially adopted him. I know that sounded strange seeing that we were married, but Logan wanted that.

"Papa Mars is a tough cookie to crack," Wallace chimes in as my dad pokes his head out the back door.

"Do I hear children who are not mine commenting on my parental practices?" he says as he walks out onto the deck.

"It was Wallace, Dad," Logan says as I laugh when Wallace splashes him.

"Have I not taught you kids not to turn on each other? I mustn't be doing a good job at that," he mutters as he looks toward me.

"I think you're doing a great job," I say as I give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks daughter of my loins," he says smiling at me. "How are you feeling today Meg," he asks as she gives him a thumbs up. We spend the rest of the day just hanging out in the back yard enjoying the sun.

I was approached the first thing by one of the basketball students Kelvin about helping him clear his name. It seems he didn't pass his drug test. I was going to pass up the case, until I learned that Wallace hadn't passed his either. I knew for a fact Wallace didn't do drugs so of course I took the case. Logan laughed as I dug up all the dirt I needed to throw the book at the real druggies.

I was excited as the first week flew by pretty fast. I solved my case, and made a few new enemies in the process. Logan and I both had Journalism again this year, and we were going to Shark Stadium for a field trip. I wasn't going to go, but then I thought about it. I would get out of school for the day. I was waiting in front of the school bus for Logan.

"Ah, young love," Duncan say as Logan takes my hand in his. I turn back to look at him. Duncan is leaning up against the bus, watching us. We walk toward him slowly.

"You're coming on the field trip? I figured you and the other Jets would be rumbling with the Sharks," Logan says as I move closer to him.

"Cool it, Action. I think I'm gonna pass on the field trip, but ah, call me when you get home, and tell me all about it," Duncan smirks at me as I turn back to Logan.

"Let's just get on the bus," I say as I pull him closer keeping him away from Duncan.

"Hey, wait. I'm gonna miss you.," Duncan says smirking evilly as Logan and I hurry past him. I look out the window as we find a seat and watch as Duncan drops his head as he walks away from the bus. He glances back toward us as my eyes lock onto his, he waves at me.

"Excuse me," the new girl Gia says as she tries to get past us.

"Sorry," I mutter softly as Logan and I walk further up the aisle to find seats. Logan sits down and pulls me in toward him as Dick sits behind us. Meg sits in the seat in front of us. Logan is holding my hand as we all are talking; he gives me an understanding look and kisses me on the forehead.

"Miss Dumbass," Dick calls out as she turns toward us.

"It's "Dumazz," Dick," she says with an all too happy voice. I knew Dick was just playing around with her, but sometimes he took things a little too far.

"Well, my name's pronounced "Re-shard" and it stinks back here. I think someone died," he mutters as I lean into Logan who shakes his head at his friend. Dick was more than that, but when he acted like a 'dick' that was what he was a friend. Yet, when he acted like the caring older bro he was that.

"You're free to sit closer to the front," she says waving her hand toward the front of the bus. He looks at the people sitting up there and just sits back down.

"That's okay. I don't think that's gonna help. Thanks anyway," he says as Logan gives him a smirk. Of course they were 09ers and the students in the front weren't. It wouldn't be correct to be seated with someone outside of your social class. I watch as Dick looks over at the other side of the bus where the girl who passed by us earlier was seated. She gave Dick a small wave and a smile.

"Hey, who's the lovely young flower blossoming into womanhood?" Dick asks Logan as I try to keep my laughter to myself as Meg looks back to see who he was talking about.

"Let me guess: you want to pluck her," he asks as Dick nods his head happily. I am amused by what those two can talk about as I shake my head. I move up a seat to sit with Meg as I play with my bag. She smiles at me as we watch the scenery past by.

Once we got to the stadium we were all escorted to a waiting area in the box seats where Mr. Goodman was waiting for us. I noticed that Beaver got real weird when he saw him, but didn't think anything of it. I pulled out my phone to see if my dad had called or texted me before sitting down beside of Logan.

Woody Goodman talked for a while about what his plans were, and he introduced his daughter to us. She seemed a little off to me, but Dick was just grinning widely as she sat back down next to him. I was amazed that Dick hadn't become a dad yet, with as much time he messed around. Once Woody was done talking we were free to mingle and eat. Logan and I were helping ourselves to food from a buffet.

"It's like, you know, what Willie Wonka would be like if he owned a professional baseball team," Logan says as Meg chuckles at his comment. I just look over at a display of Woody's Little League pictures and trophies. I see there is a signed bat at the centre of the display.

"You never played Little League?" I asked as Meg laughs even harder than Logan does when he chocks on his bite.

"Oh, well, no Mom was afraid a ball would hit me in the face. Aaron was afraid it would interfere with his interactions, and I was afraid I couldn't hit a curveball," he says as I shudder at the mention of Aaron. I knew the reality of it was Aaron didn't want anyone to know more they should have about Logan, especially when he beat him so much back then.

"I'm afraid you're gonna get love handles if you eat all that," I say as I pinch his side to check.

"I have an excellent metabolism. I would be more worried if it were you eating all of this," he jokes with me as Meg pulls a cheese stick off of his plate.

"Well then, it's official. I hate you," she mutters as I laugh. Meg was being very serious, more so since she was now eating for two. Logan laughs, as I spot movement out the window.

"Oh, check it out," I say as we look through the balcony and see Woody and another man argue. I looked closer at the man noticing it was Terrence Cook. I didn't know he played for this team.

"You did this to me," he yells at Woody.

"What?" Woody says a little taken back by what was being said. I watch as Logan recognizes the man as well.

"Wow. Terrence Cook in the flesh," he says looking from me to the legend.

"It's alright. Come on, I'll introduce you," he says happily as if it was the most natural thing pulling the man into the room.

"Hey, gang, special guest. The greatest Shark that ever played the game, back when we had pitching to go with our hitting, future hall-of-famer, Terrence Cook," he says shoving Mr. Cook into the room. We all begin to clap.

"They love you, man," he snaps before walking off leaving him in our midst. I see Dick coming over to us.

"Hey, we're not taking that stank-ass bus back to Neptune. My dad's sending a limo. Would you and your girlfriend, whose quick wit I find enchanting, like to take the trip back in style? Miss Dumbass said it was cool," Dick says looking over at me.

"Hell, yeah," Logan says quickly until he looks toward me. He is pleading with me using everything he had down to his big brown eyes.

"Fine," I say reluctantly as I turn to Meg.

"Cool," Dick says hitting Logan in the shoulder.

"I feel used and dirty," I finally say as Logan wraps an arm around me.

"Dirty, one R or two Rs?" he asks with a huge grin.

"Mmm," I say thinking of an answer to give him. He leans in and kisses me on the forehead ending my thoughts as he begins to eat from his plate. I watch as Dick approaches Meg on the balcony. It is obvious that he is asking Meg to come in the limo as well, but Meg, declines. Meg looks over at me and I give her a small smile.

"Logan I'm going to ride the bus with Meg, you know she doesn't feel right hanging out in a small space with, you know," I say as he gives me a look before laughing.

"Okay, but I will not sleep with you until you shower after being on that stinky bus," he says mockingly as I notice Terrence approach the buffet table. I turn to him with a huge grin.

"Excuse me, Mr. Cook?" I say as Logan nudges me.

"Yes ma'am," Terrence says as he puts some food on the plate.

"I just wanted to say…you are my dad's favorite baseball player ever. He keeps your rookie card vacuum-sealed inside a safe," I say as Logan laughs behind me. He knew full well that I was telling the truth my dad showed him the card.

"Well, that is an honor. You tell him "thanks" for me," he says as he shakes my hand. I stand shocked as I look back to Logan who now has an amused look on his face and his phone in his hand.

"When my dad finds out about this, he's not gonna let me wash this hand," I say as Logan takes a picture laughing as Meg comes up to us.

"So, who's your favorite player?" he asks as my mind goes blank for a moment.

"Ummm..." I stutter trying to think again. Meg is laughing at me as Logan smirks.

"Tell him and be honest Sugerpuss," Logan says smiling at me.

"It's Johnny Damon, isn't it?" he asks not shocked at all.

"He's so pretty," I say as Logan snorts out in laughter behind me holding onto his side as Meg elbows him.

"I got your back," she says giving me a grin. We both start laughing at Logan's expression. An hour or two later I watch as Logan and his pals all get into the limo while Meg and I get on the bus.

"I hear you can go back to cheerleading," I say laughing as Meg smiles. I knew why she failed her drug test, but the school didn't know the real reason.

"I know, but I think it would be hard to do a somersault trying to keep your balance with a huge tummy," she says smiling.

"Well you have all of us," I say as she turns to look out the window.

"I know, but I really thought Duncan was the one," she mumbles as I nod. Meg took it hard when Duncan broke up with her. She was mad at me for a long week because she knew it was because of me, but in the end she also knew I was happily married.

"I hope Duncan gets his head out of his butt and realizes what he's missing," I say as the bus pulls into a gas station.

"Five minutes people," Ms. Dumazz says holding up her hand.

"Do you need anything?" I ask. Meg shakes her water bottle at me as I lean back into my seat. I didn't need anything either. Our instructor was true to her word as we left right at five minutes.

"Whatcha doing," Logan says as I answer my phone. The bus is going around a bend.

"Sitting on a bus," I say as Meg laughs at my response. I can hear Belinda playing a recording of Dick up in the front of the bus with some of the kids.

"Is that Dick's voice?" Logan asks surprised.

"Yeah it seems he has a fan club here," I mutter laughing as I hear the guys in the limo singing. "It sounds like you guys are having fun as well," I comment.

"I wish you and Meg had come with us," he says softly as his words pull at my heart strings. I should have gone with him, but I also wanted to be there for Meg. Meg has been going through so much and needed some support.

"I know," I say as I see a flash of bright light and hear a loud banging noise as I reach for Meg pulling her close to me as the bus lurches to one side before flying in the air.

"Veronica," Meg gasps out as we are slammed forward when the bus hits the side of the rocky cliffs and then water floods in all around us.

"Hold on to me," I yell as I pull her close right as the water pulls the bus all the way in. I try to move, but have a hard time catching my breath as the water floods my mouth suffocating me before I see darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 2: Explosions &amp; Life

**Duncan**

It pissed me off to see Veronica all wrapped up in Logan's arms. I mean did our year together mean nothing to her at all. We weren't siblings, we could finally be together, but oh no she was going to let something stupid like being married to Logan stop her from being with me.

I wasn't going to let that bastard stop me from being with my one true love. I mean Veronica knew me way before she even knew who he was. I was currently sitting at the Casablancas house waiting to see Dick and Cassidy. I hated calling him Beaver because it made him sound like a stupid animal.

"The boys aren't going to be back for a while," Kendal says seductively into my ear as I flip the switch on the TV off.

"I know, they went to some baseball stadium," I snap as I push her hand off of my shoulder.

"Well wouldn't you like to play a game with me," she murmurs into my neck as she settles herself onto my lap. I want to shove her off, but the thought of taking her is a little more overwhelming than the need to push her away. I missed Meg, but wouldn't cave on being with her when I had feelings for Veronica.

"No strings attached," I ask as I am grinding into her.

"No, it'll be our little secret," she says as she undoes her robe allowing it to pool around her waist. I was in breastville. She had the perkiest breast I have ever seen. I pinch one of the nipples as she swats at my hand. I am about to remove my shirt when our movement flicks the TV back on.

"_We are live as two survivors are being rushed to Neptune General Hospital. I have talked with a few of the students who weren't on the bus. All of them say they heard tires screeching on the asphalt and then what sounded like an explosion. The students were from Neptune High and on their way home from Sharks Stadium. We do know that Logan Echolls the son of accused murderer Aaron Echolls was on this trip. As soon as we learn any new information on the survivors or the names of the students who died we will update you_,"

"Kendal, I have to go," I snap as I begin to move away from her.

"Duncan I am all wet and ready," she mutters as she drops her robe all together.

"Kendal, Dick and Cassidy were both on that bus. I have to see if Veronica was on it," I sneer as she tries to pull me back toward the couch.

"Duncan, who cares," she says as I just turn to her ticked off.

"I care because Veronica is the love of my life. She is the only reason I am still in this hell hole of a town. I have to know she is alright," I yell as I run toward the door and open it.

"Duncan," Cassidy says as I almost run him down.

"Geez," I mutter. "Was Veronica with you guys," I ask rapidly as he looks like he is about to throw up.

"No, she was on the bus," he says as I almost shove him against the wall. "Logan asked her to come with us in the limo, but she wanted to ride back with Meg," he says as I run to my SUV and jump in. I am going 90 the whole way to the hospital.

"I need to know where Veronica Mars is," I yell as I rush into the ER barely catching sight of Logan in the corner of my eye.

"You need to leave," Logan says as I shove past him.

"I am here for Veronica," I snap as I see her dad stand up.

"Mr. Kane I think it would be wise for you to listen to Logan. I don't think you should be here. We are still waiting for the doctors to come out to give us any news," her dad says as I am clinching my fists ready to punch him or even Logan if I had to.

"I am not leaving until I see Veronica," I yell into Logan's face shoving him.

"Oh hell no," Dick says as he stands up right next to Logan.

"Sacks please escort Mr. Kane from the ER," comes the one voice that still irks me Sheriff Lamb.

"I'll just come back," I sneer in his face.

"I think the murder of Felix is still open," he retorts as I am being pushed around him toward the exit. Once outside I kick over a planter and shove the Deputy who escorted me out.

***LoVe***

**Keith**

"Thank you," I say as I watch Sacks escort Duncan out of the room.

"I actually needed to speak with Logan Echolls since he left the scene before we had a chance to talk," he half snaps.

"Sure," Logan mumbles as he half listens. "Do I need a lawyer?" he questions as I look to Don.

"No, you don't need a lawyer," Lamb snaps.

"I am a minor so I think I would like my parent present," Logan says snapping his fingers as I just shake my head.

"I am just going to ask you questions, there is no need for anyone else to be in the room," Lamb says as I chuckle.

"I'll answer your questions if Keith can be in the room," Logan says distractingly.

"Fine whatever, let's go," Lamb snaps as he leads us to a small room near the ER waiting room.

"Why weren't you on the bus?" Lamb asks as he gets out his pen. I turn on my phone to record the conversation to listen to later.

"On the way to the stadium there was a stench on the bus. Dick called his dad who said he would send a limo for us to ride back in if it was fine with our teacher. She said it was fine," Logan says pulling on his sleeves.

"If you rode in the limo, why was Ms. Mars on the bus," Lamb questions as Logan looks up.

"Veronica was going to ride back with us in the limo, but when Meg declined going back with us she changed her mind. Veronica was riding on the bus to be with Meg," Logan says as I watch him struggle with his words.

"Was there anyone acting weird or strange?" Lamb asks as I see Logan thinking.

"No, nothing. I mean when we left the bus there wasn't anyone around, so I don't know," Logan says as he looks to me.

"Do you think the crash was an accident?" Lamb asks Logan as I look over to him. He seems to be struggling with something.

"No," Logan says quickly.

"What do you mean 'no'?" I ask before I had a chance to think about it getting a dirty look from Don in the process.

"I was on the phone with Veronica right before the bus went over the cliff. We were joking," Logan says as he sniffles looking away out the window.

"Logan you were on the phone, what happened," I ask as I notice Lamb trying to think of what to ask.

"I heard an explosion and then screaming. I heard everyone yelling and Veronica calling to Meg. The last sounds I heard were of Veronica screaming," Logan mutters as he stands up leaving the room.

"Shit," I say as I turn to look at lamb.

"The bus has been brought up, but our team hasn't found anything pushing the investigation toward an explosion. There are no tire marks or anything showing the driver tried to slow down or stop the bus from going over the cliff," Lamb says as I nod my head.

"What if the explosion was meant to take out the brakes?" I say as Lamb was ready to exit the room.

"It would keep the driver from trying to slow the bus down and also keep that bus from not going over the edge," I say as Lamb nods.

"I'll have my men look into that theory, but that's all it is right now. The evidence leans more onto a suicidal mission," Lamb says as I just don't have the energy to argue with him. I would talk to Logan later about the whole thing once we have some news about Veronica and Meg.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

My whole body went rigid the moment I heard the explosion through the phone. I hated myself as I jumped from the limo before it even stopped because Veronica was helplessly on the damn bus, and I had not been there for her.

"Logan, man what the hell," Dick says as he catches up to me. I had already made it to the edge of the cliff, and watched as the bus sank lower into the water. "Damn it, someone call 911," he yells back at the other.

"Oh my god," one of the 09er girls says as she comes up to the edge. There were a few cars that slowed down to see if any one was hurt, but it was all for show. Dick and a few other guys made their way down the edge slowly as the paramedics started to show up.

"Logan," I heard Keith say as he pulled me toward him. "Veronica," he asks as I just look back toward the edge.

"She went on the bus with Meg. I should have been with her," I mumble as he pulls me to him.

"If you had been with here, you'd be down there as well," Keith says quickly.

"At least she wouldn't be alone," I snap as I jump up making my way back to the edge as I see a dirty Dick climbing back up the cliff's edge followed by a stretcher and a blonde.

"Whoa, it's Meg," Dick says pushing me back a little.

"Where's Ronnie?" I ask as I can tell he's holding something back.

"She'll be up next, but she wasn't breathing when we got there," he says as I watch the second stretcher being pulled up with her on it. I run right to her as one of the paramedics try to push me away.

"I'm her husband," I snap as I reach for her hand.

"Let him go with her," I hear a voice say from behind me. I get in the ambulance to see Lamb off to the side talking with Dick. I knew he was the person who spoke up since Keith was already in his car waiting for us to move.

When we arrived at the airport, I was ushered into the waiting room while Veronica was rushed off for surgery. I was way too exhausted to think clearly as I sat down to wait for information. I knew Keith would be here soon, and hopefully he would be able to get some information faster than I could. I was going over everything that had gone on throughout the day trying to see if I had missed something. I mean was this a very unexpected thing or did someone intentionally harm all of the people on the bus.

"How are you holding up?" Keith asks as he sits down beside me with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"How can you be so calm?" I ask as I am fidgeting with the sleeve of my shirt a habit I have done for a long time when I was unsure or nervous.

"I know that if something was wrong the doctors would come out and tell us. Logan she was alive when they brought her in," he says as I hear sirens going off in the distance and the words, 'cold blue,' as I stand up running toward the nurses' station.

"Mr. Echolls it was the other girl they brought in. We need you to wait for the doctor to come and talk with you," one of the nurses says as I was banging on the counter with my fist. I couldn't believe this! I just needed to know what the hell was going on.

"Hey man, how is Ronnie doing," Dick asks as I feel his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't know!" I yell as I walk disgustedly back to the seat next to Keith. Keith was on the phone with someone as I sat down.

"I don't care what you have to do, but you better tell her she needs to be here," I watched as Keith looked over at me as he listened to the other person on the phone. "Jake I know you know where she is. Veronica could die, and I think Lianne needs to be here," he snaps as he looks away from me.

"She wouldn't want her here," I finally manage to say as he stands up.

"I know, but if Veronica doesn't make it, Lianne needs to be here," he says as I see Mac and Wallace running toward me.

"How are they?" Mac quickly asks as Dick wraps an arm around her.

"We haven't heard a thing about either one of them," I snap as I look at the ER doors. It was several hours later when a doctor in blue scrubs comes out.

"Mr. Mars, Mr. Echolls," he says as our group all stand; Dick holding onto Mac, Wallace with his mom, Keith and me.

"I have been questioned by the Manning's in regards to their daughter, but since she is 18 and has Keith Mars listed on her insurance I am guessing you are the one to speak with," he says as he eyes up our group.

"Yes," Keith says without looking away from the doctor.

"Meg is stable, but we had to put her in an induced coma due to her being pregnant," he says as I hear a gasp. I look over to Alicia who had tears in her eyes.

"Yes, she found out a few months ago," I say as I turn back to the doctor.

"The coma is just to help with the swelling in her brain more than anything, but she is doing well. Her child was unharmed during the crash as well," he says as I let out a breath.

"When can she have visitors?" Mac asks as I get her a tight smile. I wanted to know about Veronica, but Meg was also a friend.

"We are getting her set up in a room right now. She could have visitors as early as tomorrow afternoon," he says as he flips through a stack of papers. "Now, Ms. Mars is also in stable condition, but she sustained several minor injuries to her body as a result to what looks like shielding of Ms. Manning," he says as he looks over a sheet of paper.

"What do you mean?" I question.

"The paramedics said they found Ms. Mars in a protective stance with Ms. Manning. Which means she was using her own body to protect her friend," he says as I just nod my head. Of course Veronica would put Meg above her own well being.

"Okay, so how bad is it," I ask as I watch Keith looking lost for words.

"I can tell Ms. Mars is a fighter; she has a lot of injuries, but she is still alive. I think our major concern is that she isn't brain dead. The first responders said that when they pulled her from the wreckage she wasn't breathing, and from the reports the bus was fully submerged for around 15 minutes. We are watching her brain waves for all signs of activity and right now she still has some," he says with a small smile. "The next 24 to 48 hours will tell where she stands," he says as he pauses.

"Is there more?" I ask as he looks from me to Keith.

"I think we need to discuss the rest of the results in private," he says looking around at all of our friends. I wanted to say no we can talk out here, but the look on his face meant it was serious.


	3. Wanting Answers

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 3: Wanting Answers

**Logan**

I was livid when I reached the Sheriff's department, it had been a week since the bus incident and there hasn't been any new information. I mean I know they have to collect and gather evidence, but they should know something by now.

"Can I help you?" the lady behind the counter asks as I walk up.

"Yes, I'd like to speak to Sheriff Lamb," I snap impatiently as she looks from me to a door behind the counter.

"I'm sorry, but the Sheriff is really busy right now," she mutters as I slam my hand onto the counter drawing the attention of several officers.

"I don't care if he is busy or not. I have questions and he needs to give me some damn answers," I forcefully say as an officer walks up behind her.

"Mr. Echolls I don't like your tone," the man says as he pulls the woman away from the counter.

"Oh well," I snap as I read his name. This wasn't the usual Deputy Sacks, not this was Deputy Richards.

"I think you need to just go home and cool off before coming back here," Deputy Richards says as he tries to look scary.

"I am not leaving until I speak with Sheriff Lamb," I say as I step closer to him, "If Sheriff lamb decides not to speak with me, then I will use my family's name to drag this crapping excuse of a Sheriff's department through the mud," I sarcastically say as the man steps back.

"What is all this darn commotion out here?" Sheriff Lamb yells as he exits his office before the Deputy could respond to my threat.

"Awe, now was that hard at all," I snap as I see Lamb narrowing his eyes at me.

"If I had to guess it would involve you," he sneers at me as he walks closer.

"I would like to know why it's taking you so long to get some answers about what caused the bus accident," I furiously snap at him as he reaches for me, but stops in his tracks as several media journalists enter the room right on time as I smirk as he looks to me.

"This is your doing," he snarls at me as I smile while the journalists begin grilling him for information on why it was taking so long for him to release any information.

"Sheriff don't you think the two teens families deserve to know why their daughters are fighting for their lives," one lady asks as another takes a photo of him.

"Our department is processing all the evidence that we have gathered, and as soon as we have something concrete we will release a statement to the media," he says as he tries to keep his composure.

"Why don't you hire an outside company to help with the investigation?" I bluntly ask as the media frenzy pauses as all eyes turn to me once more.

"We are using what resources we can to do the best investigation possible," Lamb snaps as I just shake my head.

"Right, that is why its been a week and still no information," I reply as I can tell I am getting under his skin.

"I don't like your tone Mr. Echolls," he retorts as I just slowly make a smile as I decide what to say next.

"Have you even looked into the fact that I gave you information? I told you while I was on the phone with my wife, one of the survivors that I heard an explosion. Did you even look into that?" I sneer at him as he half lunges toward me while the press goes wild with that new detail.

"Did you have to hang him out like that?" Leo asks as he pulls me away from the crowd of journalists.

"Probably not, but if you are ever in my shoes let me know how you would handle it differently," I say as he leads me to our waiting Range Rover.

"Please tell me you didn't cause a circus," Keith asks as he smiles to me once I get in.

"Just a little one," I say as he turns to Leo who heads toward the Hospital. The media has died down slightly since it was reported that Veronica was in ICU, and that she was one of the two survivors. Keith gets out before me and leads me into the staff entrance as I watch the swarm of press move toward us.

"Mr. Mars, Mr. Echolls," Veronica's nurse says as I enter her room. I hated looking down at the strong woman I married to see such a fragile broken body. The doctors were excited she had made it through the initial 48 hours. They told us it meant she was a fighter, but I already knew that.

"I'm going to check in on Meg and then come back," Keith says as I sit down beside of Veronica and take her hand in mine. I lay my head down on the bed next to her arm and pray. I have prayed for her every day since the accident. I have sat with her for hours on end until either Keith asks me to take a break or the nurses shoo me out of the room. I want Veronica to know she is loved and missed.

_***Flashback***_

_It still felt like yesterday when the doctor asked to speak with Keith and me alone. I knew my worst fears were coming back to haunt me when he asked that, but Keith just excused us for a moment as we followed the doctor._

"_I didn't think this was something you would want everyone to know," the doctor says as he places two x-rays on the x-ray slider on the wall._

"_Is that what I think it is," Keith asks as I am lost._

"_Yes, we took a few sonograms as well, but that is a fetus," he replies as I look closer at the photos._

"_Veronica is pregnant," I ask as I see Keith tighten his grip on my shoulder, but loosens it when he sees my face._

"_Yes, Mr. Echolls your wife is approximately 3 or 4 months ago. It is hard to tell since she is so tiny to begin with, but once we take some samples and do a few more tests we should know more," the doctor says as he hands me the sonogram photos._

"_Logan, I'm not happy about this," Keith says as I just continue to look at the pictures._

"_I am elated," I say honestly as I hear him groan before leading me back to our waiting family._

***End***

"Hey," Dick says as he enters the room sitting down on the sofa in front of the window as he looks out. I had decided to tell our friends who were all happy for me, but I still worried about how I was going to be as a father and a husband when Veronica woke up. She had to wake up. I couldn't do survive this life without her beside me.

"Have you checked in on Meg?" I question as he laughs.

"Mac was in there talking to her. I brought your homework and books," he says as he hands me the binder he had in his hand.

"Okay, so what homework are we working on tonight," I ask as we get down to studying. I usually worked with Dick for an hour or two and then Mac or Wallace switches with him as we study something else just to keep Veronica and Meg company.

Dick and I had been working on some math equations when there was a soft knock on the door. I turned to see Jake Kane standing there. I hand my book to Dick as I make my way to the man I once thought was a good guy.

"What are you doing here?" I snap as I see Keith coming toward us.

"I came to see if there was anything I could help with," Jake says as I just laugh.

"You want to help, keep your psychotic son away from us," I snap as I feel Keith's hand on my shoulder.

"Logan, why don't you go look in on Meg, Wallace is in there, but Mac would like to spend some time with Dick and Veronica," he says as I look back to Veronica's room and then nod my head as I walk off.

***LoVe***

**Keith**

"I agree with Logan, what are you doing here Jake," I question as he runs his hand through his hair.

"I saw what Logan did at the station. I was there with the Manning's as he set Lamb up. I honestly came to see if I could help with anything," he says as I see him pull his phone out and look at it before sighing.

"Why don't you answer it?" I snap losing my patience with him.

"It's Meg's dad wanting to know if I had any luck getting her medical back in their name," he says as he shoves his phone back into his pocket.

"That's not going to happen," I bluntly say as he nods his head.

"Yeah, I know that. I know Duncan was here a few days ago and made a scene. Celeste has him at home right now," he says as I just nod this time.

"I ended things with Lianne when I found out she refused to come here for Veronica. I cut her off totally," he says as I look back at him.

"Logan was thankful she didn't come," I say as he just sighs.

"I never thought she would walk out on you or Veronica. I wish so many times I would have told her no, but I was selfish and continued seeing her even after I knew it was destroying your family. Keith I know it probably means nothing, but I am sorry," he says as I actually find it funny that he thinks apologizing now would solve all of our problems.

"It's a little too late for that," I solemnly say as he turns toward Veronica's door.

"There was a time when I actually hoped Veronica was mine after Lilly had been murdered, but then when I saw how she stood by you when no one else did it made me realize you were the better man. If Veronica had turned out to be mine I would have left her with you for that reason. You taught her to be the woman she is today. I can't tell you one father daughter moment I had with Lilly," he says disgusted.

"I knew my time with her was short. I wouldn't have given her to you anyway," I say as I walk away from him.

"Keith," he says as I turn slightly. "I am putting pressure on Woody Goodman to have Lamb get in touch with you. You need to be on the bus accident team. We both know he isn't going to get the job done," Jake says as I enter my daughter's room with a smile.

"Mr. Mars," Dick says as I see Mac untangle herself slightly from the surfer.

"Am I interrupting," I ask questionably with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Dick mutters as Mac hits him lightly.

"I was just telling Dick how my day was and he was consoling me," Mac says as I laugh. I knew that Mac was having a rough time, but it still was something to see her with Dick.

***LoVe***

**Dick**

I hated how time seemed to go so slow when waiting for news. It has been nothing but waiting for the past few months. Veronica is still in the hospital in a coma, but Meg has been home for a few weeks resting. I can't believe she is doing so much better thankfully because Veronica did a good job protecting her. I know that Meg collaborated Logan's story about hearing an explosion as the bus went over the cliff. It was three days after Logan took the media into the Sheriff's station that Meg opened her eyes.

"Dick," Mac yells for me as I am pulled from my thoughts.

"Sorry, what did you say," I ask as she just laughs.

"I asked if you were going to see Logan this afternoon," she says as I pick at the lunch that was sitting in front of me.

"No, he said they were going to be running tests on her," I say as she nods her head.

"Were you banned from visiting as well?" Wallace asks as he sits down across from me.

"Yeah, tests," I mutter as Wallace takes out his phone and begins typing on it.

"I talked with Mr. Mars and he asked for all of us to be at the house later this afternoon," he says as he looks up from his phone.

The rest of the day was boring compared to surfing or just hanging out with my friends. I saw my little brother talking with Duncan as I headed to Mac who was waiting by my truck for me.

"I heard Veronica woke up," Beaver sneers to Duncan as I walked by them. I turned slightly to look at Duncan to see if he was going to reply or not.

"It doesn't matter. I hear she is so deformed that she looks like a stunted slut anyway," Duncan retorts glaring at me as I go to punch him I feel a small hand on my shoulder.

"Dick, he isn't worth it. Duncan is just upset Veronica wouldn't leave Logan for him. He thought she would treat Logan like her mother treated her dad," Mac says as Duncan moves toward her.

"You don't know anything you bitch," he yells at Mac as I decide to just walk away. The teen yelling at us wasn't the same one who use to hang out with us anymore. No this teen was a vicious excuse of his former self. Mac and I get into my truck and head to Logan's house. The security guy at the gate smiles as he waves us in when he opened the gate. I noticed that Logan's and Wallace's cars were both here.

"I am perfectly capable of sitting on the couch," I hear a familiar voice snap as I make my way toward the living room. I had to laugh at the sight in front of me. Meg was sitting on one edge of the couch as Logan was hovering over Veronica on the other end. "Logan I'm not made of glass back off," she snaps as I see her swatting his hands away from her.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I woke up in pain as I opened my eyes to see Logan's head on the bed beside my arm. I slowly lift it up to touch his hair to make sure he was real. I had dreamed of him for so long, and I wanted this to be real.

"Ronnie," he croaks out as I give him a small smile.

"Hey," I whisper out.

"God, it's great to see your beautiful eyes open," he says as he presses something on the bed.

"Where am I?" I ask as I try to think of what had happened.

"You are in the hospital. You were in an accident about a month ago," he says as I see flashes in my mind about the explosion, the bright lights and the water I had a hard time getting out of. I start to shake as I feel him trying to sooth me. "You are alive and fine," Logan says softly as I hear the door open.

"I will get the doctor Mr. Echolls and call your father as well," the intruder says as I try to calm down.

"I thought I was going to die," I mutter as I take deep breaths.

"I'm glad you didn't though," he says as he kisses my forehead resting his forehead against mine.

"What happened?" I ask as I try to think back fully on what I remember besides the flashes I already had.

"I don't know all the details but from what Meg has been able to tell us and our conversation right before it happened. I think someone planted a bomb on the bus to take out someone," he says looking away as I realize that it could have been me everyone was after or him, the possibilities were endless.

"You said Meg helped, how is she," I ask as he gives me a smile.

"Meg and her little girl are doing well. She was released a couple of weeks ago once she woke up," he says as I see my dad enter the room.

"I am totally putting you in a giant hamster ball," he mutters as he gathers me into his arms hugging me.

"Dad, can't breathe," I say as he releases me slowly.

"You have had this young man going stir crazy with worry," my dad says as he wipes tears from his eyes. "I have been doing everything I could to help bring the person responsible to justice," he continues as they both take turns to tell me what I have missed while I was sleeping. I was slightly surprised that it was midnight when I woke up. The doctor had come in and checked me out. I even had someone see how well my legs and arms move. My dad laughed as he described how Logan would do exercises with my legs and arms to keep them from going stiff.

"Mrs. Echolls we have a few tests we want to run before we decide what to do next," the doctor says as I see the light shinning out my window.

"How do you feel?" Logan asks me again as I watch him pace along my bed checking all the machines and tubes.

"I would feel so much better if you would come sit with me instead of pacing," I snap at him as he smiles.

"I sure missed your witty remarks," he says softly as he nudges me slightly as he sits beside me on the bed. I lean into him as I feel his hand go from my stomach.

"How do you feel about having a baby so young?" I ask breaking the silence.

"To be totally honest; I was worried that I might have to choose between the two of you at some point. I mean the doctors were stressing me out when they took you out of the induced coma and you hadn't woken up. I kept telling myself I would make the right decision, but I would have been lost. I have been excited knowing that you and I made this little being," he says smiling as he shows me a black and white ultrasound photo. I took it from him amazed at how tiny our little baby was.

"Oh my that is a tiny baby," I finally say as my dad comes back into the room.

"Logan you caved," he mutters as he holds up a small pony with a pink balloon.

"I didn't know I was supposed to wait. I just gave her the photo," Logan says as my dad smirks at him.

"I'm just giving you a hard time. How do you feel about it?" he asks me as I take the pony from my dad. I was a little worried about being a mom so young, but I knew Meg was going through exactly what I was and we could lean on each other.

"I'm actually okay with it. The baby is half me and half of Logan," I say as the doctor comes in to take me for my testing. I had an MRI and CAT scan done. Then I was taken to a physical therapist to see how well my joints worked. I had some stiff movements as I stood up while a guy walked behind me. He gave me praise as he had me walk across a bridge. He then had be pull a small weight in my hands to see how well my arm muscles were. He told me that I had great muscle tone and movement for someone who had been out for as long as I had been.

I was taken back to my room where I was helped out of the bed and into a chair that was situated near the window. I was looking out it when Logan finally came back with some food.

"A penny for your thoughts," he says as he sits down beside me.

"I was just thinking about how pretty it is outside," I say as he snuggles into my neck.

"Well I have some great news," the doctor says as he enters the room a few minutes later. "All of the tests show that you are completely healthy. I know you might have some stiffness in your joints or muscles, but getting up and moving around will help with that. I know that your husband has said that if we were to release you he would make sure you had some home care. I have talked with your father and I have decided you can go home," he says as I look over to Logan who has tears in his eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep her for a few more days? She's a pesky little thing," Logan teases as I see a smile on the doctor's face.

"No, I think she will be fine at home. Meg's nurse has already been contacted and will be waiting for you guys once we discharge her," he says as he walks out the door once again leaving the tow of us alone. Logan takes the time to kiss me slowly before deepening it as my hands move to his hair pulling him closer.

"That is exactly how you ended up pregnant!" my dad says as he clears his throat.

"Ugh!" Logan groans as I laugh. I bet my dad has lectured Logan so many times it would be crazy to guess. "I texted the guys to meet us at the house afterschool instead of here," he says changing the issue at hand. Logan then tells me how I always had someone close by in case they were needed. I wasn't surprised to hear that Dick and Mac helped out several times as well. I was a little worried when he mentioned how Duncan tried to get to me when I was first admitted.

I was super excited almost bouncy in my seat as my dad was driving me home. I had the window down like a dog and was taking in the fresh air as well as all the sounds. When we got closer to the house I began to get more excited than I already was. Logan kept trying to keep me in my seat. When we got to the gate I heard the guy say something to my dad who just laughed as we passed.

Once we were parked Logan came around to my side of the Ranger Rover opening the door and helping me out. I tentively took a step, but before I could face plant on the driveway I felt myself being lifted up and carried.

"Logan I can walk," I say as I wiggle some before he squeezes me.

"I know but you are supposed to take it easy. This is me helping you take it easy," he says as I hear my dad laughing harder behind me.

"I am not an invalid. I hate this so much," I snap as I am being seated on the fluffy couch opposite to where Meg was seated.

"Welcome home," she says when she sees me.

"Sure," I mutter as she laughs.

"Veronica, they are all like that. I have hardly moved unless I needed to move to keep my muscles from aching," she says as she motions around the room to Leo, Logan and my dad. "They just want to take care of you," she says smiling. I just stifle a grunt as Logan begins to get on my nerves hovering over me as I hear the front door open.

"I am perfectly capable of sitting on the couch," I snap as Logan doesn't seem to want to move. "Logan I'm not made of glass back off," I finally say exhaustedly as I try to swat his hands away from me. I disliked how he was making me feel.

"The doctor only agreed to let you come home if you rested," he says pensively as he notices our friends enter the room.

"Wow, this looks like a very domestically normal thing for them," Dick says as he nudges Mac as she just looks like she would rather be anywhere than where she was. I smiled as I noticed how all of them fit so perfectly into my life.

After a few more minutes of Logan making sure I was covered and tucked in with a can of Skist; he finally sat down beside me. The two of us took turns explaining to our friends and family how I woke up. We talked about what my plans were and how long Logan planned on keeping me locked up. It was a very uneventful afternoon just havin fun among friends. Around 6:30 Wallace and Mac took their leave while Dick bunkered down in his normal guest room. Logan helped Meg up to the other spare room while my dad sat down beside me.

"I am so glad you are home," he says as I lean into him. It has been awhile since I felt like I needed him like I did right now.

"I was so scared," I say as he looks at me questionably before I continued, "The day on the bus Meg didn't want to ride back with the other kids so I went with her. I am glad I did because dad what if I wasn't there. Meg might not have survived," I say as tears hit me. I remembered how fast everything happened all at once and my only concern was making sure Meg was with me.

"You did the right thing. I believe you both survived because it wasn't your time to go yet," my dad says heartfeltly.

"I don't even know what kind of turmoil Logan must have been in. I mean he has been so strong all day," I say as I see a shadow in the kitchen.

"He wasn't going to give up on you. Honey that is what a husband does; he stinks by his partner making sure they don't get left behind," he says with a smirk. "I think your good husband is ready for you to be alone with him," he says all too knowingly as Logan enters the living room as he kisses my forehead and leaves.

"Okay hot stuff, lets head to bed," I say as I remove my blanket and fold it before going to stand up.

"Let's go," he says holding his hand out. I walk to the base of the stairs and look up them not sure if I was ready to tackle them just yet, but before I have a mini breakdown Logan moves around me holding one hand as I hold the railing and walk up the stairs one step at a time. "I'm glad I could help m'lady," he snickers as he half bows in front of me.

"Laugh it up, one day you might need my help and I'll remember this moment," I say as I throw myself on the soft bed. I sure missed my bed. Logan helped me out of my clothes in our bathroom as I brushed my teeth. I watched him as he went into the closet coming back with a simple night gown.

"I missed you," he says as he snuggles into my back.

"I missed you as well," I softly say before I begin to drift off to sleep thinking of a little blonde haired brown eyed beauty.


	4. LoVe Forged

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 4: LoVe Forged

**Logan**

I woke up earlier than usual just to check that Veronica was really laying beside me. I thought I had dreamed the whole day before, but no she was soundly asleep next to me. I lay there just watching her sleep while I think of all the things that I wanted to tell her.

"Morning," I say as I see her beginning to stretch. She turns to look over at me only to smile.

"I thought I had dreamed this hot guy sleeping next to me," she smirks at me as I just try to take in all of her.

"Well I think I told you I always like to start the day off waking up next to a hot blonde or was it waking up with a hot blonde in my bed," I was still joking as I felt her lips crashing against mine.

"Does it matter?" she finally questions as we come up for some air.

"No, it doesn't," I laugh as she snuggles into my side more. "You do know I have to get up at some point to get something for you to eat," I say as she just shakes her head in protest.

"They deliver," she mumbles into my side.

"Right, no your dad isn't going to be delivering food to our bedroom because you want to lay in bed with your husband all day," I try to reason, but knowing her with her dang head tilt she could probably get him to do just that.

"I'm sure I could convince him to bring us some grub," she says titling her head slightly top the left as I have to laugh at her. I'm sure she could get just about anyone to do her bidding with that tilt. She might even be able to bring grown men to their knees with one notch to the left.

"You are a very tiring person," I say as I hear the front door open and close.

"Well your stuck with me," she pouts as she moves to get up. Her small baby bump showing as her tank top lifts up slightly as she goes to stand up.

"Where do you think you are going?" I question as I pull her back to the bed. She half giggles and swats at my hands.

"I need to go to the bathroom. It seems your kid is squishing my bladder," she groans as I let her go. It was odd to hear her refer to our baby at all. I mean I knew it was ours, but it just seems so unreal. We were going to have a little person in a few months.

"Come on," I say to her as she comes out of the bathroom. I toss her a sundress that she slips on as I reach for her hand.

"Where are we going?' she questions softly as I just pull her along. I stop once we are at the back door heading to the deck. I grab one of the blankets off of the rack by the fireplace and head outside. I move a few chaises into position and then pull her to the one I set up for us. I throw the blanket over us, and wrap my arms around her as the sun begins to come up.

"This has always been by favorite part of getting up early to surf," I say as the sun begins just to peek up sending rays of pink, orange and red across the morning sky.

"It is amazing," she says as she snuggles into my side. I am happy to just be holding her at all. I vaguely hear the door open.

"Seriously, you two are cramping my style," Dick jokes as he grabs a surf board and heads out to surf.

"Does he even remember whose house he's staying in?" Veronica asks as I just chuckle. She was right.

"I think he thinks it's his as well. I mean he does stay here more than he does at his own house," I say as she laughs.

"How is he treating Mac?" she asks as I laugh.

"I think Mac has actually mellowed him out some. He is so nice to her. I wonder sometimes if Mac was born into the wrong family," I say as Veronica half chokes and then coughs. "Are you alright?" I question as she nods her head.

"I'm glad that Meg is here with us. I just hope she is doing okay with all the different changes and all that," Veronica mutters as I try to think back to the information I had been reading up on about pregnancy and all that.

"She seems to be doing well. I know she wishes Duncan was helping her out, but I don't think anything is going to help him get his head out of his a..." I was stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"I see you got her out of bed. I was worried she would try to get the royal treatment. All of us waiting on her hand and foot," Keith says as he sits on a chaise next to us. Veronica is shooting her dad daggers.

"I am not that bad," she protests as he chuckles.

"Keep telling yourself that," Keith says as I smile. "Logan you're still going to school Monday, Meg and I can keep Veronica busy for a few hours," he continues as I feel her stiffen up a little.

"I'll be back in the afternoon," I quickly say as she turns into my neck. "Veronica, I have to get back to school. I hate leaving you here at home, but I have missed a lot since the accident," I say as I feel her head nod into my shoulder.

"I guess I'll have to be getting back there as well," she groans as I try to keep a straight face when she looks up at me.

"Yes, but I think you could weasel at least a few more days at home," her dad says as she smiles.

"Well at least I have you for two whole days," she says as her dad clears his throat.

"Actually, Logan has to leave shortly to do a few things for the upcoming trial with Aaron," Keith tells her as she totally stiffens up at the mention of Aaron.

"Don't worry Veronica. I am meeting with a lawyer to go over the evidence my mom left with you as well as the pictures you took after one of his beatings. I want to make sure he can't get out for any reason," I say as she seems to relax.

"When is the trial?" she asks as I look over at Keith.

"The trail is set for May, several months from now," he replies as Dick steps up on the deck.

"You missed some great waves," he says laughing as he shakes his head out causing water to rain down on us.

"Dick," Veronica mutters as she buries her head under the covers more. Dick goes into the house followed by Keith who points at his watch as he walks away.

I wait a few more minutes before we head back into the house. Veronica goes to the counter where her dad has an assortment of pastries laid out on a plate. She reaches for a few before heading to the couch where Meg was already seated. I give her a kiss before heading back upstairs to get dressed and head over to talk with Cliff. Cliff has helped me from day one, so it was only fitting for him to be the one to help me now.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Do you have an appointment?" the over dressed woman asks me as I walk into the office.

"Yes, Logan Echolls-Mars," I say as she quirks an eyebrow at me. I couldn't legally drop the Echolls name without a parents' consent, but I could hyphenate my name to proudly carry Keith's and Veronica's.

"Cliff, a Logan Echolls is here for you," the woman says into a phone I knew deliberately leaving off the Mars. "Right, okay," she says as she hangs up the phone. She gives me a tight smile before picking up her purse and walking out of the office. A moment later Cliff comes out of his office; he has something in his hand that he begins to move around the room before he turns it off.

"Okay, let's go into my office," he says as he locks the office door and places a chair under the handle. "I want to keep all of this under wraps," he says as I nod my head. I was totally sure that was true. All the evidence that the prosecution can get to paint the best picture of the type of man he was the better for us.

I spent almost 4 hours in a tiny cramped office space with Lamb, a DA attorney and Cliff going over all the evidence from videos, pictures and notes that my mother left. I had to retell as much as I could all the abuse Aaron had done to me. It was painful at times to think about what I was being punished for and why. At the end of the time I was mentally wiped out.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

Logan had been gone for several hours already and I was getting worried. My dad was trying to keep by occupied, but I just wanted to know he was alright. I hated not knowing what was going on. I was currently relaxing with Meg and Dick on the couch watching some movie with surfing. I couldn't tell you much about it since my eyes were glued to the clock.

"Logan," I say as I stumble to him once I heard the garage door opening. He barely caught me as I launched myself at him the moment he opened the door.

"Veronica, I have only been gone a few hours," he says as I kiss him.

"Hours turned into days for me," I muttered as he pulls away from me to look at me.

"Are you alright?" he questions.

"I was just worried. I mean you were reliving the hell Aaron put you through," I say as he strokes my cheek before kissing me once more.

"Thank you," he says as he takes my hand and leads me back to the couch with our friends.

"Why were you thanking me?" I ask as he just smiles.

"I was thanking you for caring," he says softly as I snuggle into his side knowing that there was more to his words since his expression was saying something totally differently. We spent the next few hours just enjoying our friends and eating some good food. Leo and my dad were both out for the majority of the early to late evening.

We both went to bed around 9:30 when Dick and Meg turned in, but even after Logan fell asleep I laid awake thinking about all the horrible things Logan must have had to relieve and go into detail about. It bothered me a little that he had to do that, but I understood the reasoning behind it. I hated the thought that since Aaron had a high powered attorney he might be able to get off with the charges against him. It was wrong for bad people to get away with a crime.

I woke slightly when Logan got out of bed. We spent the majority of Sunday lying in bed or out on the beach. He wanted to enjoy the sun before having to head back to the real world. My dad had talked with him about how his statement went, but Logan didn't really share many details about what he said or what had happened.

"Isn't it still dark out?" I questioned as he got out of bed.

"Yeah, Dick wants me to go surfing with him. I want you to go back to sleep," he says as he kisses me. I want to reach out for more, but he was gone before I had a chance to do so.

"Dang it," I heard a muttering voice as I saw some light flittering into the room through the shears on the windows.

"School," I say as he turns to look back at me.

"Yeah, but I really want to stay here in bed with you," he smirks as I crawl over toward him.

"I would love for you to as well, but I think a higher education is on the agenda for you today," I chuckle as he smiles.

"Yes, it is. I have a free period last class so I'll be home then," he says as he kisses me good bye and heads out of the room. I was going to lie in bed some more, but I decided to get up. I looked into Meg's room, but her bed was made.

"You're up," my dad says as he looks up from the paper he was reading.

"Yeah, my bed was too big and lonely. Where is everyone?" I ask as he looks around the room.

"I'm right here daughter," he smirks as he smiles. "They all went to school. Meg wanted to go and do some learning," he says as I nod my head.

"So are you going to stay here with me all day then," I ask as he shakes his head.

"No, we are going to venture to the office. I want to clear out some things, but didn't want to leave you here alone," he says as he hands me a cup of tea. I learned yesterday morning too much caffeine is bad for a baby, so Logan says I can't drink coffee anymore. I hope he is ready for ill tempered Veronica.

It felt odd walking into Mars Investigations after being gone for so long. I walked over to my desk and looked down to see it was still on the day that I was to be working before all the Echolls crazy happened. I wouldn't give it all up though, but it has been a strange time since then. I filed some for a while then I played games on the computer for awhile, but Logan found me asleep on the couch when he came in.

"Veronica," he says as I am trying to open my eye, but am still tired.

"Go away," I mutter as I feel him laughing into my neck just before he kisses my juggler causing my heart to race a little.

"Are you ready to wake up?" he mumbles into my neck.

"No," I moan as I hear more laughter. I open my eyes to see not only Logan looking down at me but also my dad. "Private moment ruined," I mutter as Logan sits on the couch next to my feet pulling them into his lap.

"How was your nap?" my dad asks as he sits on the coffee table.

"It was alright until someone decided to wake me up," I mutter shooting eye darts at Logan.

"I guess filing some folders is hard work, or is it playing games," my dad asks joking as I go to kick him with my foot, but Logan won't let me have my foot back.

We spend the rest of the afternoon and evening at the office. Logan goes into detail the rumors that are floating around about me, but when he told me how people treated Meg I was upset. He even told me how Duncan sat by while his friends snickered and yelled insults at Meg. I wondered why because Meg wasn't showing much, but he said it was because she had gained some weight. She was no longer skinny and blonde.

When we got home it was time for bed, but that was fine with me because I decided I was going to school tomorrow. I was going to lay into Duncan Kane for being a jack ass idiot. Yes, I would set him in place, but I didn't want to hurt Logan by doing this. I would have to probably talk with him before doing it, but I was so disappointed in my ex-boyfriend. I thought he was better than this. I fell asleep wondering what Lilly thought of how Duncan was treating people especially the mother of his child.


	5. Chapter 5

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

_A/N: I must say that without the ever insistence of Dramamomma who keeps me from slacking on this story thank you for your support. I am glad you like it._

Chapter 5: Soul Repercussions

**Veronica**

I was up before Logan had a chance to talk with my dad into making me stay home. I saw the look on Meg's face when she walked into the house. I knew how she felt because I was once on the receiving line of the 09er's crap.

"Morning," my dad says as he walks into the kitchen.

"Morning," I mumble as I drink down the hot coffee before Logan comes down.

"You know that Logan will murder me if I allow you to continue to drink this," my dad says firmly as he takes the cup out of my wanting hand.

"Way to go, buzz kill," I mutter as he chuckles.

"I guess I shouldn't ask where you are going today because my thought is somewhere you shouldn't, but I don't want to over step my bounds," he says softly as I look directly at him.

"I'm going to school. I don't like the way students are treating Meg. I want to show her she has someone in her corner right now, especially since she needs it now more than ever," I say as I hear a few swear words coming from upstairs.

"I think Logan is up," my dad says as he takes his cup of coffee and hurriedly wakes out on the deck.

"Chicken," I mutter as I hear footsteps on the stairs. "Morning," I say without looking over my shoulder at Logan.

"Where do you think you are going?" Logan questions as I still don't look at him to answer.

"I am going to school," I say as I stand up to turn to look at him.

"No, you are not," he snaps as I laugh at him.

"I am going," I say as he pinches the bridge of his nose. It's a habit I have seen him do a few times, more so when he is frustrated with me.

"Veronica I don't want to argue about this, but I really think for you and our baby it would be better for you to stay home one more day," he says as he places his hand on my stomach. Great he was playing the baby card, damn it. I need to stand my ground for this.

"I will take it easy. I need to take care of someone," I say as he half sighs and chuckles at the same time.

"It was worth a try. Duncan will still be there Wednesday," he says as I look up at him. How the heck had he know who I was going to school for?

"Please," I say titling my head to the left knowing that he will buckle to it.

"Awe, shit she's doing the head tilt," Dick says as he comes into the room followed closely by Meg who has a smile on her face.

"I guess Ronnie won whatever debate you two were having," dick says as Logan smacks him on the back of the head.

"Of course she did, he is putty in her hands," my dad says as he walks into the kitchen. "He was her patsy without him even knowing it," he says as he gestures to Logan with a huge grin.

"I am standing right here," Logan mutters as I wrap my arms around his waist. "I didn't even get a chance to reply," he mutters as I stand on my tippy toes to kiss him.

"Well," I say as he tilts his head to the left in mocking me.

"I still say it's a bad idea," he says as I smile again knowing full well I won the first of many debates in this marriage.

"Yes, but your idea of bad is so much worse than mine," I say as he just shakes his head. We both head back upstairs before heading to school. I take the shirt I had off to see what my stomach looked like. I slipped out of my jeans as I noticed they had left a red band around my stomach.

"I think maybe you should stick to loose fitting clothes," Logan says as he notices me rubbing my stomach.

"I guess, I hadn't thought about that. I mean I am not huge or anything, but I have gained some weight," I honestly say as he goes into our closet.

"I think this will be okay," he says as he hands me a navy sundress with ruffles on the skirt portion if the dress and a black sweater to wear over it. I actually liked it. The dress fit me just right.

"Thanks," I reply as he pulls a jacket off its hanger. He leads the way as I grab my book bag. Dick and Meg were already outside waiting for us.

"I like your outfit," Meg says as she gets into the back of the Ranger Rover. I had to laugh because I don't think all four of us have ever went to school together, but I bet a united front was better than a divided one.

It wasn't a long drive from the beach house to Neptune High, but the scenery didn't do anything to calm my nerves. It has been several weeks since I was last here. I was almost in a panic attack when Logan reached for my hand and squeezed it as if he could tell I wasn't actually ready for this. He pulled into a spot near Wallace, who was waiting with Mac at his car.

"Well, if it ain't the reclusive blonde sleuth," he says as Logan opens the door for me. I smile as he shakes hands with Logan and hi fives Dick. Dick now has his arm protectively wrapped around Mac. I was still getting used to that one. I move around the Range Rover to head toward the administration office when I see Duncan out of the corner of my eye.

"Come on, you have time for him later," Logan says as he pulls me along. Mr. Clemmons was waiting for me with some paperwork to fill out before he would give me my class schedule. I was half paying attention as he went on about what he expected of me.

"Ms. Echolls are you even listening to me," he says as I look over at him.

"No," I honestly say as he shakes his head and hands me my schedule. I can tell it's the same classes as I had before. I wasn't too surprised by that.

"Let's get to class before Clemmons decides to send you home for not listening," Logan smirks as he leads me away yet again. Logan thought that he was being cute, but he forgot who he was dealing with. I would see Duncan at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. I walked into the classroom with a minute to spare before the bell rang. The teacher looked up from her desk to just barely glance my way, but the shock was evident on the other students in the class. Yes, Veronica Mars was back.

I sat down in the only empty seat toward the back of the room near Weevil. He looked me up and down before looking back to the front of the class. The teacher told us our next assignment, but I wasn't here for the first part of it nor did I know what to do.

"You need a partner," Weevil asks as he turns his desk to face mine.

"Yeah," I mutter as I realize this is going to be a long period. Weevil shares the previous tasks with me. They were simple enough for me to understand and we were done with this task before most of the class. I decided to work on some other work to keep me busy, but Weevil wanted to chat.

"How are you doing, Vee," he says as the teacher walks around the room helping students with the work.

"I'm doing well," I say looking down at my notes.

"Logan treating you well," he says, I look over at him. He said it in a way that meant more than I probably should think.

"He is treating me very well. Is there a reason for that question?" I half snap as he shakes his head.

"Nah, my grandma would come home occasionally and say how sorry she was that he wasn't himself. I thought she was just giving him a break, but it wasn't until I actually saw him that I realized what you meant to him," he says as the bell rings.

"Thanks," I say as I toss my books in my bag and race to the door. I give him a small smile before I exit the room. If Weevil would tell me how torn up Logan was, than everyone should have known how much I meant to him. Why would Duncan even think for a moment I would turn on Logan?

"Hey," Logan says as he catches up to me.

"Hey yourself," I reply as he gives me a look.

"What would you like for lunch?" he asks as I begin to walk to my next class. Right, food is a very safe discussion for the two of us.

"Surprise me," I say smiling as I walk into my next class and see Duncan sitting right in the middle. Of course Logan was in this class as well, and he wasn't too happy to see the smirk on my face.

"Not right now," he mutters as he pulls me toward the other side of the room away from Duncan.

"But it's the perfect time," I whine as he wags his finger in my face and I take a nip at it.

"I still don't know what you see in him. I mean his father murdered your best friend. How can you play house with him?" Duncan sneers at me as Logan pulls me closer to him

"Play house," I sneer at him as I fill ticked off by his word choice. "I don't have to play house with him. I married him. I love him," I snap as Duncan moves closer to me.

"We could have that as well if you just gave us another chance," Duncan gleefully tells me and the rest of the class who were looking at the three of us.

"I want a man who believes in me, not a little boy who runs away in face of danger," I snap as I see the smirk leave Duncan's face as he moves away from me slamming his books onto the table across the room as Ms. Houser comes into the room.

"Welcome to Life Skills 101. This class is part of your graduation requirements," she says as she goes into detail the tasks and assignments we'll be doing in the class and what they are worth. It was good that the new semester had just started. This semester would take us to Christmas break. "I think you will all be broken into partners for the duration of this course by the names I pull out of this hat," she has said most of the class only a few more names and I could either be partnered with Logan or Duncan. "Awe, Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls," she says as my racing heart slows a little.

"Come on," Duncan mutters as he is partnered with Gia Goodman. He gives me a creepy look as the teacher goes into our first assignment. The class goes by faster once she tells us what she wanted us to do. The next two classes I didn't have Logan in, but Duncan was in both as was Meg and Dick. Dick made sure to usher me in the opposite direction of Duncan. I wasn't sure if Logan had anything to do with it or not, but probably did.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I was worried about Veronica all morning. I felt better knowing that in our Life Skills class we were partners. I was very worried she'd be partnered with Duncan and that wouldn't end well for either of them. I made sure to text Dick to keep her away from Duncan at all costs.

'_Dude she's getting suspicious_' Dick texts me after the first class.

'_Dick relax, lunch is almost here. I'll meet you guys in FBLA'_ I text back as I sit down next to Weevil. He gave me a strange look before facing the front of the room. I stare at the clock as the minutes pass by so slowly. I text my order to the Chinese place half an hour before the bell rang so that the food would be waiting when I got out of class. I had nothing better to do than but to go back to staring at the clock until the bell rang, hardly hearing a word the teacher had said. It was hard to focus on anything else while Veronica was so close.

"You had better gotten egg rolls," Veronica says as I hand a bag off to Dick who laughed at her words and walked ahead of us to the classroom.

"Don't worry I even ordered extra in case that was all you wanted!" I say as she smiles a huge grin.

"That isn't going to get you off the hook for making our friends play referee," she says with an all knowing smirk. I knew she knew what I had been doing, but I had hoped she would let it slide. We walked into Mr. Pope's classroom holding hands. The classroom was situated in a horseshoe shape there weren't any desks together, but Duncan was sitting in one separating two different seats.

"Okay let's begin the new class session," Mr. Pope says as he claps his hands together causing me and Veronica to walk toward where Duncan was seated. Duncan picks up his lunch and moves over one seat dropping his food onto the table. "I'd like to begin our local profile series by introducing the CEO of Casablancas Enterprises, Mr. Richard Casablancas," he continues as he points behind himself to where Dick's dad was leaning against the desk.

I decide to play buffer so I sit down beside of Duncan and she sits next to Dick. I put her bag of Chinese food on the table and she opens up the containers looking to see what I ordered her. She looks over at me and kisses me.

"So, who are we exploiting now?" she whispers to me as she picks up an egg roll and takes a bite.

"The workers," I say as she kisses me again and steals a piece of sweet and sour chicken off of my plate.

"Eggs-cellent," she says as she claps her hands together with a grin. I laugh because she was being so light hearted. I could tell Duncan wasn't too thrilled about our interactions by his groans of disgust.

"Great now I've lost my appetite. Why don't the two of you go somewhere else," he snaps as he drops his sandwich onto his tray. I couldn't help it so I roll my eyes at him. I mean was it so horrible to show the person you care about how much they mean to you. I ignore him and pay attention to Dick's dad's speech.

"That was very enlightening," Veronica says as she picks up her bag before tossing her empty containers in the trash as we walk out the classroom door.

"Actually it was, but for some reason his numbers don't seem to add up to me or it would be the perfect thing to invest in," I say. I mean Dick would be making money off of me, but the whole thing seemed off. I would talk with Keith about it later. The rest of the afternoon went by quickly, luckily for me Veronica was in my last two classes so I could keep an eye on her.

"I'm glad I got to get back in the saddle so to speak," she says as we are walking toward the Range Rover.

"I know you want a pony, but right now we have more pressing matters," I say as she gives me a pointed glare.

"If it isn't the son of a murder and his whoring wife," Cassidy says as we get to our vehicle. Duncan snickers at his words as I see Veronica take a deep breath.

"You know what Duncan I don't know why I even dated you to begin with. I mean sure at the time I thought you were the whole package, but now that I have experience the whole package I can see you were nothing but a little boy. I don't know what I ever saw in you. I guess the only reason we even dated was because of Lilly and her schemes. She wanted Logan and she knew he wanted me, so to solve her problem she set us up. I never loved you, so move on. I would be worry about my future if I were you because it is going to change very soon," Veronica says before shoving past both a frightened Cassidy and a perplexed Duncan.

"Remind me Bobcat never to get on your bad side," I say as I am driving home. Dick and Meg were catching a ride over from Mac.

"Don't worry I have no problem with reminding you of it. I just hope it gets me a pony," she says as we pull into our driveway.

"Wow, watch out peeps here comes IRON MIKE," Wallace says as we enter the house. Keith looks out the security room to see what the noise was.

"Please tell me there weren't any fights," he says as he looks Veronica over carefully.

"What am I chopped liver," I say as Veronica softly punches my arm.

"Well you aren't carrying my grandchild," Keith remarks as I solemnly nod my head. He was very right with that.

"Keith you should have seen it, Veronica laid into Duncan with everything she had," Dick says as he enters the house followed by Mac and Meg.

"I just told him how it was, gosh you guys make it sound like I beat him up," she mutters as she pulls a S'kist out of the fridge.

"You didn't see the look of shear dread on Duncan's face as you two drove off. He literally looked like he crapped himself," Dick remarks.

"Seriously you guys, I just told him to move on and to worry about his own life," Veronica says as I laugh. She sure did. We all settled into the library nook upstairs and worked on our homework together until dinner. Mac and Wallace left while I was helping Leo and Dick make dinner. Meg and Veronica were talking about baby stuff. It was hard to believe that we were expecting a little person.

"You were quite at dinner," Veronica says as we climb into bed.

"I was thinking about our baby," I say looking up at the ceiling.

"Do you do that a lot?" she questions as I turn to face her.

"No, but listening to you and Meg talk about the babies made me think about it. I was wondering what kind of a father I am going to be. I don't have a good father figure to look back on," I mutter thinking about Aaron who was currently rotting away in jail awaiting his trial.

"Well if we are being honest I have thought about what kind of a mother I would be. I mean Logan my mom cheated on my dad, and ran off. We both have a screwed up parent, but we can be better than them. We can show our little baby how much they are loved and cherished," she says as I kiss her nose.

"Yes, we can," I say softly as she snuggles up to me. I lay there for a while longer thinking over her words and finally let myself drift off to sleep dreaming about a little blonde haired blue eyed baby that looked just like her mother.


	6. Bold Moves

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 6: Bold Moves

**Veronica**

"Turn the damn alarm clock off," I snap as I hear this continuous banging sound followed by the doorbell ringing.

"Someone get the damn door," Logan yells from beside me as he pulls the pillow closer to cover his head with it.

"What the heck do you think you are doing? You can't just barge in like you own the place," I hear Dick say as I hear stomping on the stairs.

"Veronica Mars, you are under arrest," Sherriff Lamb sneers toward me as I look to our bedroom entry way where he stood.

"What the hell?" Logan snaps as he scrambles out of bed. "You can't just barge into our home throwing that kind of crap out," he yells as I see my dad coming in followed by Leo.

"Don, would you please move out of my daughter's room?" my dad says as he nudges his way closer.

"You know the rules; I think she might be a flight risk. I need to stand here and watch her like a hawk," he smirks as I pull the covers closer to cover my body. Logan had already gone into the closet and pulled out a sweatshirt and some yoga pants for me to put on. He passes them off as I slip them under the covers and dress

"Veronica, don't say a word to them without Cliff," my dad says as Lamb jerks me up out of the bed enjoying this way too much. I walk pass Meg who just looked like she was on the verge of tears. Logan is pulling on his shoes following closely behind us. When we get out of the house I see Sacs waiting beside the patrol car for us with the door open.

The drive to the Sheriff's station seemed like it was taking forever, but I wasn't prepared for the fan fair that was waiting for us when Lamb pulled up in front of the station. There was a news crew and reporters lining the walk way as he opened the door for me pulling me out sharply as I almost fall forward.

"Sheriff is that the murderer of Curly Moran," someone yells out as he pauses a moment for the reporters to all get a good look at me. One lady put her microphone down and shook her head.

"Are you telling us that she murdered the stunt coordinator? Veronica Mars the girl who just got out of a coma," she calls out as Lamb must feel like this isn't going his way pulls me into the station. I see Weevil sitting on one of the benches as we enter. He looks over at me puzzled as Lamb pulls me into a conference room.

"Are you going to tell me why you woke me up and hauled me in here without plausible cause?" I demand as the door opens and Cliff comes in half awake, but carrying a styrofoam cup with him.

"Whatever my client said was said without counsel," he says giving me a pointed look as he hands me the cup. "Don for God's sake uncuff her," he demands as he sees the cuffs still on my wrists.

"I'm in charge here," Lamb snaps as he does uncuff me but leaves the cuffs on the table. "Your client is linked to an unsolved murder of a stunt coordinator," he snaps and he slams his hand on the table making me jump a little.

"My client has been out of the hospital for maybe three days tops, and you are sitting there accusing her of murder. That doesn't sound too well for you," Cliff says as Lamb looks a little pale.

"Well she seems to have a connection with the deceased," he snaps as he shoves a file in front of me. Cliff opens it up as I see the mug shot of the deceased, but I didn't know him. I flip the page to see what Lamb thought was his big murderer idea. My name was written on the deceased man's hand. The only link he had was my name with the man. Cliff looks over at me as I shrug my shoulders.

"I don't know what your damn issue is Don, but you have no case here. I want you to stay away from my client or I will be hand delivering a restraining order on you," Cliff says as he motions for me to follow him.

"I don't think so, Mars sit down," he snaps as I hear some noise coming from outside.

"I think my husband has finally showed up," I smirk as Lamb looks over at me questionably. "Right," I smile as the door opens roughly slamming against the wall. "Lamb, my husband Logan Echolls," I say as Logan motions for me.

"I haven't released her," Lamb says as I see another man enter the room.

"Sheriff," the man says as he dips his head.

"Mayor, I didn't know you were in today," Lamb says as he stands up.

"Yes, anyway, Mr. Mars here has provided security footage of Mrs. Echolls and her friends for the last week. I might also remind you she was in the hospital up until a few days ago. Next time call and ask for her to come in. There was no reason for you to barge into their home," the Mayor says as Logan finally pulls me into his arms.

"I mean it, Lamb stay away from my client," Cliff says as we exit the conference room. "Alright, I think we should take our leave before Don decides to take a difference course of action," he replies as I am now being pulled by Logan who stops in his tracks as the reporters are right outside the front doors.

"Crap," he snaps as he runs a hand through his hair. He pulls my hood up on my sweatshirt and intertwines his fingers with mine. "Veronica no matter what do not let go," he softly say as he pulls me close to his body.

"Did you come to see your father?" one lady yells out as she shoves into him.

"Is this the murderer?" another lady calls out as she is trying to move closer.

"Where are you going Logan?" a man with a camera yells as Logan pushes past him.

"Are you lying about the abuse you claim to have suffered at Aaron Echolls hands?" a man says as we are just about ot pass him. Logan stops dead in his tracks as he stares at the man.

"Where the hell did you hear that?" Logan demands as I tighten my grasp on his hand.

"Does it matter?" the man snickers as the other press seems to be focused on the two of them now.

"Who told you?" Logan snaps as he moves closer to the man.

"Is it true you are lying about the whole issue to cover up the scandal of you murdering your ex-girlfriend?" the man leers at Logan who is moving to jump him when I pull him with all my might.

"Let me go," he snaps at me as he goes to jerk his hand away from mine, but I hold my ground. He looks down at me as I use my other hand to uncover my head as I see the flashes going off.

"We're in this together," I say softly as he peers more intensively at me as if he was trying to decide what was more important.

"You're right," he mutters as if he was still struggling to stay I control of his anger. I don't know where the heck Leo was, but he decides to push us toward the waiting black Range Rover. Logan holds the door open for me as he looks back at the man who was questioning him. I held his hand firmly as he tries to get loose.

"Logan," I murmur as he looks back at me with a sigh as he gets in looking defeated. I don't know what was going on in his head, but I knew he wasn't fully here with me. I move closer to him as I try to think of what to do. The baby decides at that moment to move. I take the hand I was holding and place it where the baby kicked.

"What," he replies softly as if he was just waking up. I see a flicker of realization flash across his face as he looks down at my belly.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I was so disgusted with the man who was questioning me about Aaron that I could punch a wall or even his face, but Veronica wouldn't let me go. I was a little pissed that she decided now was the time to actually listen to something I asked her to do. I got her into the Range Rover intent on going after the man, but she wouldn't let me go still. It was as if she knew what I was thinking.

I was staring out the window as I tried to figure out how the man got the info he had. I only told a few people and that was in privacy. I was battling on what to do as I felt Veronica move closer to me, but paid no attention to it. It wasn't until I felt a sharp kick on my hand as I realized where my hand was.

"What?" I questioned as I looked down at her hand holding mine on her stomach. Our baby just moved, I felt our baby move. I looked up at her face and the only emotion on it was love. I didn't understand how in the world I got so lucky with her.

"Wow," she murmurs as I move my hand trying to feel the baby once again.

"Was that the first time?" I asked as I saw her look away from me.

"No, it was right before I placed your hand on," she says softly as I give her a smile. I pull her to me as Leo is pulling the Ranger Rover through the gates. I could see Mac and Wallace standing outside with Dick as we pulled up in front of the house.

"Wow, little Ronnie life of crime," Dick says as Mac hits him on the shoulder.

"Dick," everyone says as he just shrugs his shoulders.

"Come on, it was bound to happen with her hanging around Logan all the time," he jokes as I hit him this time. We were making it a habit of not going to school, but I knew tomorrow Keith would make sure each of us was there personally if he had to. I could see the worry etched in his eyes each time I caught him looking at Veronica or me. I knew this was hard for him, but I hoped it wouldn't prove too much for him as well.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Come on sleepyhead," Veronica is whispering into my ear as I swat at her to go away. "Logan, feel," she snaps lightly as I look up at her. She is sitting up in the bed with her hands on her stomach. I finally realized what she wanted me to do as I placed my hand on her small bump. The baby was moving, and kicking lightly.

"Has she been doing this long?" I questioned as she raised her eyebrows at my assumption that the baby would be a girl.

"She," she asks with a small smile.

"Well I think I could deal better with a little girl," I say thinking about how screwed up Aaron was to me. I couldn't lay a hand on a girl, but I was worried if I had a boy I might be like him.

"Logan you are nothing like Aaron. I know you would love your child no matter what she or he may be," Veronica says very reassuringly to me.

"Would you make me a promise?" I ask as I think of what I want to say.

"Um, depends," she says as she seems to ponder what I might be going to say.

"Promise me that if I ever hit you," she stops me by placing her hand over my mouth.

"No, I won't promise you anything like that," she mutters as now our conversation is getting to a place where she doesn't want to go.

"Please, hear me out," I say pleadingly. She shakes her head.

"I don't care what Aaron did to you. You are a better husband than he ever was. You have never raised your hand to me or any of our girl friends. I know you will be a great dad because you have so much love in your heart bursting to shower someone with," she says as I am caught off guard by her words. She has a few tears slipping down her cheeks.

"You put way too much faith in me," I mutter as she brushes the stray tears from under my eyes.

"No, I see how much you love and cherish me. This baby we are going to have is part me. I know deep down you will do whatever it takes to keep our child safe. So, no I will not make any promises in relation to leaving you or anything else along those lines," she says as she leans closer to me. I can't help it as I pull her to me wanting to wrap my arms around her.

"I love you," I whisper into her hair as I snuggle my neck in the crook of her neck.

"I love you as well, always and forever," Veronica says as she relaxes in my arms. I move on of my hands to rest on her little bump as the baby moves every once and a while. The love I felt and sincere honesty of Veronica's words eased the ache I had been feeling without even thinking of it. Yes, I would have to trust that Veronica would stand by me no matter what came our way.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Morning," I whisper into Veronica's hair as she begins to stir slowly.

"Logan," she mutters as she takes in my appearance. I had gotten up right before dawn to surf with Dick. I then took a shower and got dressed. "I wanted to take a shower together," she mutters in my direction as I chuckle while she stretches before tossing the covers off of her body. She was so beautiful. She had on a pair of my boxers and a camisole. Her little baby bump was barely noticeable unless you looked at her hard sideways, you couldn't really see it from the front.

"Dad has made pancakes," I say as she mutters some very unlady like words before heading into our bathroom to freshen up. I headed back downstairs to keep her from getting waylaid with other ideas.

"Is monster out of bed?" Dick asks as I give him a look.

"Veronica wouldn't like hearing you call her names," Meg says as I nudge Dick hard.

"Right, last night she was making some crazy ass noises," he muttered. I looked up at him really unsure if he was seriously talking about Veronica like that.

"Richard, that was Backup," Keith says as he reenters the kitchen with a dog bowl. "Leo put him in the dog cage, and he wasn't too thrilled by that," he finishes as I see Veronica coming down the stairs.

"Why was he in the cage?" I asked as Leo walks in with Backup on a leash.

"He was digging out of the backyard," Leo says as Veronica reaches down to free her dog.

"Well why wasn't he in the house. I mean this is his home as well," she says as he rests at her feet while she sits down on the stool next to me.

"We were running some scenarios and had the doors opened. I didn't want him to wander off or get loose," Leo says as that made sense.

"Next time bring him up to our room," she says as I watch her pile her plate up with several good sized pancakes, before drizzling the whole pile with syrup. I didn't know how she wasn't twice her size by now.

"You guys have 15 minutes before I expect all of you, and I mean all of you headed for school. You know the place where you get an education," Keith says as he comes back into the kitchen area wearing a suit and tie.

"Dad, that is your dating suit," Veronica says as I place her empty plate in the sink.

"No, this is my work suit," he says as he quickly disappears before she could get a chance to question him more.

"My dad is up to something," she mutters as we get in the back of the Range Rover.

"Ronnie, let it go," Dick says as he turns the radio on cutting off her discussion once more. She gives him the dirtiest look I didn't know she even had. As we pulled into the parking lot I could see several paparazzi staking out the entry way for anyone who wanted to speak with them.

"What the heck?" Meg says as Dick moves through the gate that now has several security guards checking our ID's to make sure we were students.

"What's going on?" Dick asks as the guard passes his ID back t him.

"Reporters trying to sneak on campus," he replies as he waves us through. Dick parks in a spot next to Mac's green beetle. She was standing beside it talking with Wallace as we got out of the Range Rover.

"We saw your new friends," Wallace smirks as Veronica nudges him. "What took you guys so long anyway?" he continues as everyone points to Veronica who points to Dick.

"Dick drives like an old lady," she mutters as I laugh at her words.

"Come one, Ronnie," Dick whines as Mac laughs. "Don't be that way," he continues as she chuckles softly next to me.

"Awe, look who we have here; a murderer and a murderer's child," Beaver smirks as I see Dick tense up at his words.

"Beaver," Dick warns as I see Duncan moving closer to our little group.

"Dk, the murderers have returned," Beaver sneers toward us, but the look on Duncan's face told a different story. He looked like he had lost his best friend as he walked away from us. I watched him go feeling slightly guilty, but unsure as to why.

"I'll see you later, Dick," I mutter as I kiss Veronica and look over to my friend as he seems to want to hurt his little brother.

"Right, I'll take care of the she devil," he snickers as I see Veronica swat at his arm before heading off after Duncan. I got to the Journalism room where he was sitting with his back to the door.

"Not the person I thought would come, but whatever," he mutters not looking up from his screen. It was playing the video from the station the day before.

"What are you doing?" I question as he turns up the volume,and I hear the question that ticked me off yesterday.

"Lilly should have known, hell I should have known," he murmurs agitated. "Do you think that's why he hurt her?" he questions, but I don't really have the answer to it.

"No, I think he killed Lilly truly over the tapes. Duncan I don't know why Aaron did the things he did, but this is all on him. He was the asphat," I say as Duncan stands up turning to look at me.

"Veronica knew last year, before everything went down," he asks as if he already knew the answer to his very question.

"My mom left her the information before she died, Veronica didn't know everything until she saw it firsthand. Duncan, it doesn't even matter. Aaron is going to get his just desserts. I just needed to make sure he didn't get out," I say as I see a glimmer of my old friend before he shuts me out once more as he walks out of the room. I watch as I just can't shake the feeling something was going to happen.

"Where did you disappear to this morning," Veronica says as she comes up beside me after second period.

"I went after Duncan, but it was a wash," I mutter as I give her a kiss to the forehead. We head to our next class just as the bell rings. I had Ms. Navarro make us lunch today so I didn't need to order anything special. I was thinking about what to do about Duncan the majority of class, and was distracted when the bell rang.

I notice that Veronica seems a little distracted as we are walking to Pope's for our FBLA, "Hey, what's on your mind?" I ask as she looks up from the book in her hand.

"Just...fine European automobiles," she says as I give her a questionable look.

"Are you hinting at something?" I question as she laughs, but shakes her head. "Sweetie really, when have you ever known about fine European cars? Well besides when Lilly took you to that fleet week a few years ago," I say as she laughs even more.

"Well darling lover, ever since I became a Future Business Leader of America," she replies smiling at me wickedly. I can't help but laugh at her words as we enter Pope's room. I find Duncan sitting on the far side of the room, but he gets up and gestures for us to sit in the only two open sits.

"I think you all should be happy. Today you are worth exactly one million dollars," Mr. Pope says with a genuine smile on his face.

"What?" I snap mockingly as Veronica nudges me to behave. "You mean I've lost money? Veronica darling I promise you heads will roll," I joke as I toss a piece of homemade tortilla in my mouth.

"Thank Mr. Echolls I'll make sure your account meets with mine later," he says as he shakes his head before moving back to the front of the room to continue his speech, "I assume that you have all heard about my stock market game, in fact, I think many of you have played before. Over the course of the school year, each club member will control a virtual portfolio. Now, you may invest your money any way you see fit, as long as it's legal," he says looking directly at Dick before pointing at him as well.

"Seriously dude, dog racing is totally legal," he mutters as he snatches a piece of Ms. Navarro's to die for Chocolate cake.

"Yes, but, hardly lucrative. May I remind you of your stock performance last year," he asks as I laugh because Dick actually lost not only fake money, but a nice size of recall money as well. "I will also like to say the student with the most profitable holdings at the closing bell on June 1st will claim all bragging rights," he says as he goes into a power point presentation of his own stock market graphs. I could tell he was a pretty smart investor. He taps on the screen to show his own investment for this year.

"Wow. Well, what'd you invest in, Mr. Pope?" Beaver asks as he shows the profits he'll be making at the end of the investment cycle.

"Well, take a look," he says as he pulls up his current portfolio. "I haven't made any changes since last year. I tend to be more conservative than the majority of my students, since I use this same model for my personal 401(k)," he replies as I still have a shaky feeling about the fact that most of his money was invested in Dick's dad's business.

"How much real money did you make?" Duncan asks as I look over at him.

"Well actually enough to retire in exactly nine months," Mr. Pope says as he shows the amount of returns Casablancas, Inc. pulled in.

"My old man's pulling in 35% returns? Teacher man, I'm the one that's retiring," Dick smirks as he gives a crazy gesture toward Beaver who gives him the flip.

"Right, I'll alert the dog track that you'll be hitting the sandy beaches instead of the track," Mr. Pope replies playing the groovy teacher role a little too well. The class erupts into laughter at his words while Dick gives him a pointed look.  
"Yet, like I was saying as for myself, at the end of this year, I'll be hanging up my teaching hat, and literally, sailing off into the sunset," he says with a smile on his face as he points to a picture of a sailboat on the broad behind his desk.

"Wow, that's a pretty cool boat," Duncan says eyeing the actual picture as if he was trying to figure out which boat it was. Duncan was an actual sailor so he would probably know it better than anyone else. "Is that a Swan 40," he asks as he looks back at the picture.

"Yeah an original from 1971, I would have retired earlier, but the restoration of the hull has been tricky, I needed to redo it twice before it was correctly done," Mr. Pope says with a gleeful expression.

"Didn't figure know how to do it right, so you had to take a second chance?" Duncan says as I look over at him. He is staring oddly right at Veronica, but his words mean more to me as I shoot out of my desk and right at him, just as the realization hits Veronica. Dick holds her tightly to keep her from interfering.

Duncan has managed to get us out the door as he is shoving me into the lockers while I am trying to beat him off of me. I hit him and try to twist out of his grasp to no use. He has his arms tightly around my side shoving and kicking me hard. I finally start pounding into him with my fists trying to get him to release me as he clocks the blows. I feel two arms jerking me away from him as Leo steps in between the two of us shoving me roughly into the wall

"What the hell is your damn issue?" he snaps as I see Duncan being held off my Mr. Pope. Leo leads the two of us to the nurse's office. Duncan is seated on a cot while I sit on the end of a old exam bed. I could feel my knuckles swearing with pain as I flex my fingers. I took a good look at Duncan to see his bloodied nose, and swelling to his left eye.

"Well, I can say one thing: I don't think whoever it is you're fighting over, she won't be very impressed by this," the nurse says as she finishes bandaging up Duncan's hand while looking over his eye. She walks out of the room after telling Duncan the Principal was waiting for him. He was about out the door when he turns around to look at me.

"Actually, I might have to disagree with the nurse, I think Veronica might have been impressed," Duncan mutters at me as I take a deep breath to stay calm. "She might even have been a little turned on as well," he says darkly turning to give me a smirk.

"I would watch it Duncan. You're exposing yourself for another beat down. I mean you were the one who let her go," I snap as I am starting to get pissed.

"Another beat down. I am rock-hard. I could take you in my sleep," he mutters as I laugh because this was Duncan. I was surprised he actually did well in our fight to begin with.

"You lost her; I didn't steal her. Veronica isn't a toy we can fight over. She is my wife," I say as I jump off the end of the exam table ready for another fight.

"Hell with Veronica Mars right now. I wish you had chosen me. I mean I could have used you this summer. Where were you this summer, man?" he snaps as he comes up to square off with me once again.

"What do you mean? I was there for you, but you didn't want my help. We were all there for you, but your need to get even took control over our friendship," I tell him as he glares at me with seething hatred.

"I was accused of murder in the eye of a storm, and you wanted to finally be a better person. It is a war out there, and you're on the sidelines hanging out with Veronica Mars and her friends? Do you remember when you had my back no matter what? I needed you to stand by me against the PCHers, but no," he roars at me.

"Yeah, wait, I do remember this summer. I learned that my ex-girlfriend was murdered by a jackass. My best friend disappears after being arrested, and then comes back like a raging pit bull ready to kill anyone in his path," I say coolly as I see him turn away from me.

"Yeah well I was trying to deal with this thing the best way I could. I mean how could I get past the fact that your father killed my sister, and then you were shaking up with Veronica when I thought she was my sister as well," Duncan says as he walks up close to me.

"The principal's waiting for you," the nurse says when she returns. Duncan is almost out the door when I find my voice.

"I hate him more than you could ever know," I softly say as I let a few tears fall. Duncan stops in midstride but doesn't turn around. I watch him as he sighs before leaving the room. Veronica enters shortly after followed by Keith. He didn't look too happy with me.

"Logan, what were you thinking," Veronica mutters as she sits down beside me watching as the nurse dresses my hand.

"I'm sorry," I murmur as I pull her close with my uninjured hand. Keith tells me I am suspended for one day, and grounded to the house for a week. He even said that meant no surfing at all. I looked at him like he had just stole the last cookie from me, but the amused expression on Veronica's face told me this was a big deal for him.

I had a hard time falling asleep as I thought about what Duncan had said. He was right though. I wasn't there for him. I thought back to see if I had fought harder could I have helped my friend be a better person. I would like to have said it would have made a difference, but I would never really know. I couldn't rewrite the past, but I can forge a new future.

'_DK, sorry about last summer' _I tested him as I got out of bed I was in the hallway when I felt my phone vibrate.

_Yeah, do you want to talk_-Duncan

'_I'm grounded, but maybe you can come over here_,' I send back.

_I don't think I have ever heard that from you. Grounding never stopped you before_-Duncan

'_Have you met Keith_,' I text back as I feel silly about my fear of my father in law.

_Actually, yeah I have. I'll come by your place around 10_.-Duncan

I head back to bed thinking that tomorrow might actually have a better outcome than today did. I was hoping Duncan would understand everything, but on the off chance he didn't I was going to have to prepare myself to lose my best friend for good. I decided to think of my future little girl as I finally fell asleep with Veronica in my arms right where she belonged.


	7. Chapter 7

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 7: Promises &amp; Surprises

**Keith**

I wasn't too thrilled about Logan getting into a fight with the Kane boy, but man I saw the look of frustration written all over Logan's face. I knew from the news, and what little I could get out of Sacks that Duncan was having just as rough time with all that was going on like Logan, but he didn't really have the support he needed.

"Logan," I say as I see the figure coming into the house from the porch. He looked up at me with those huge brown eyes that I couldn't see how Lynn could leave him. He truly was somewhat of a lost boy.

"I was on the phone," he mutters as I nod my head.

"I know, you know what you did yesterday wasn't the right way to handle the situation," I start as he nods his head. "I am not going to condone you getting into fights every time someone says something you don't like even if it happens to be about Veronica," I mutter as he looks up.

"I know. I was actually calling Duncan. He is going to come over here so we can talk," Logan says as I see he seems to still be keeping something back.

"Does Veronica know?" I question as I see his eyes look away from me. "Of course not," I mutter when he doesn't answer.

"Veronica would want me to man up, but Duncan was talking about her like she was so trickster yesterday. I lost it, I probably don't hold much innocence in the way she was treated, but I care deeply for her," he seems to be struggling as I sit down beside him.

"Logan stop doubting yourself. Veronica knows the person you were back then isn't the same person you are right now. She trusts you to come to her, and hopefully she would come to you when she needs your reassurance. Just trust her to help you through whatever your going through," I say trying to remmebr the man who raised him hurt him more than what the eye could see.

"I asked her to leave me," he mutters as I drop my cup onto the counter at a loss for words. What the hell was this kid thinking?

"What?" I snap as I gather up the cup to get a fresh one.

"We were talking and I asked her if I ever…" he stops talking and looks up at me. I could only think of one way his thoughts were going and I know now why he was struggling.

"Look at me, Logan you are a better man than what Aaron Echolls is. I know he is your father, but you are the one who decides how to live your life from this point forward," I say as he nods his head.

"But would you," he stutters as I look for the words to show him everything would be alright.

"How did you feel yesterday when Duncan was talking about Veronica?" I ask as he clinches his fists.

"I was livid. I couldn't imagine someone who knew her talking like her as if she wasn't there. It hurt to know he thought so little of her. I wanted to protect her," he says as he seems to be letting his own words sink in.

"Right, you thought of nothing else but wanting to protect her, I can only imagine what you might be thinking about, but stop. You have Veronica, Dick, Meg, Mac and the rest as well as me to keep you on the right path. You are not Aaron Echolls!" I say as I move closer to stand in front of him. "You are a loving, caring husband who would do anything to protect those you love. You need to stop stressing over turning into your… Um, Aaron because we won't let you," I say as he smiles at me.

"Thanks. Veronica told me the same thing the other night, but I guess thinking about wanting to protect her is what is holding me together right now," he says as I smile.

"You're doing a fine job, just remember to feed her or we might have an issue or two," I say as I hear a grumble from behind me.

"Dad," Veronica mutters as she swats at me. "Logan makes sure to feed me. He doesn't let me have ice cream for dinner," she says as she leans into Logan. I watch as he wraps his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him. Yes, he would be fine.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

"What time did you wake up?" Veronica asks as I fry up some bacon for her.

"I woke up around 4ish," I say as I stir the pancake batter.

"Was it a bad dream?" she asks softly as I shake my head.

"No, I was thinking about how to be a better person," I admit as I see her jerk her head up to look fully at me with a confused look.

"Logan I thought we covered this the other night," she says sighing loudly.

"Veronica we did, but I still want to strive to be a better husband and very soon a father," I say as I move around the counter to stand in front of her. "I know you think I'll never turn into Aaron, but I still need to be able to grow into the person I want to be. I want to give you the world, and protect you from the dangers that are everywhere. Then when our child is born I want to be the one to kiss her goodnight, to teach her to surf and to be the role model she needs to become the person she is meant to be," I say as I see a few tears creeping down her cheeks.

"We might be having a boy," she mutters as I wipe away the few stray tears.

"Yes, I know," I mutter trying to stay calm. I mean I never saw Aaron hurt Trina so I just assumed if I had a daughter I would treat her better than if I had a son. I was terrified of having a son and turning into Aaron.

"Don't worry about it," Veronica says softly as if she knew what was worrying me.

"Thank you," I say as I go back to the stove to cook her pancakes. We eat the breakfast pretty slowly as if neither of us wanted to end the calm before the storm. "I invited someone over to socialize with," I say low as I pick up her plat and silverware before she has a chance to argue.

"Okay which one of our friends," she asks with a smile.

"Du…." I say as I stuff a piece of pancake in my mouth muttering the ending of his name. She totally caught what I had said though.

"Are you out of your mind? He tried to murder you in front of our friends," she is half yelling and pacing at the same time as Keith sticks his head out of the security room before ducking back into the room.

"Chicken," I yell out as I hear a vague, 'your issue'. "Duncan just wants to talk. Veronica I think he just doesn't know how to handle the feelings he is dealing with. I mean you and I had each other to lean on. Duncan really doesn't have anyone," I say as I moved with her toward the living room.

"He had us, but he couldn't behave," she mutters as she drops down on the sofa mumbling under her breath.

"I know, believe me I know, but can we honestly without a doubt write him off totally as if we never knew him," I ask as she looks at me with a semi softer expression.

"He chose to become the jerk he is right now. Logan have you forgotten how he is treating Meg. Meg is carrying his baby and he just upped and dumped her thinking I would go right back to him once we found out we weren't related," she argues as I see her reasoning, but still hope there was a chance to bring Duncan back from the grave.

"Veronica I know all that, but this is Duncan. He was your friend once upon a time. I know things are rough with Meg and him, but Meg needs him just as much as I need you. I just can't sit back any longer and watch him self destruct if it could be prevented," I say as I see her flinch away from me as I notice Meg standing at the entrance way of the living room.

"Logan you didn't tell him did you," Meg mutters as I stand up to meet her half way.

"No, of course not Duncan is coming over to talk with me about our issues. I am hoping to put his mind at ease with Veronica and me once and for all, but you know how hard headed he is," I mutter as she sits down beside of Veronica. Great both of them were against me in this.

"Let me know when you're done talking," Meg says as she gets back up and walks out of the room.

"Great, I just upset her," I mutter as I flop down on the sofa where she was just sitting.

"It's a lot to take in. I think you're right though. Duncan does need help, but do you think we are able to handle it," Veronica asks as I play with a strand of her hair as she leans against my shoulder.

"I hope so," I say as I hear the doorbell ring.

"Well it's time to find out," she mumbles as I get up to answer the door.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I wanted to go back to bed, but as I watched Logan get up to answer the door I knew I couldn't abandon him on his quest. I wasn't sure if Duncan would talk at all or just punch and then make excuses, but I was about to find out when I saw him heading toward me with Logan trailing behind him.

"Veronica," Duncan says surprised when I stand up as Logan quickly moves around Duncan to my side.

"Did you want to lie down or hangout upstairs?" he questions softly as I look up at him.

"No, I was just moving down on the couch," I admit as I sit on the far end of the couch as he relaxes a little and sits down beside of me. Duncan unsure of what to do sits in the chair near the living room entrance.

"So, you two are…" Duncan stops and looks down at his hands as if he was trying to think of something more to say, but then he just looks up.

"We're doing well," I say as I squeeze Logan's hand reassuring him that I was there for him all the way.

"Anyway, I wanted to meet with you Duncan because I don't want our friendship to end like it meant nothing," Logan says as he turns slightly on the sofa to look more closely at Duncan.

"Yeah, neither do I, but I can't…" he pauses yet again as he looks directly at me.

"Duncan I love Logan 100%, I will not be leaving him anytime in the near future," I finally say as I see his eyes close tightly before he reopens them.

"Why not?" he snaps as I can tell he isn't happy with my words.

"I can't," I finally say as I feel Logan wrap his arm around my hand in his lap.

"Duncan, Veronica and I got married and neither of us knew what that meant. I mean her mom left her for your, well for another man. I parents well they didn't work out, but we don't want to be like our parents. No we want our love to survive where there's failed," he says as I kiss the side of his cheek.

"I just see why you have to have Veronica. Veronica was mine," he blurts out as he stands abruptly. Logan is up and standing in front of me.

"I can't believe you are such an ass," I hear a voice from behind Duncan. He turns to see who said it. Meg was standing there with her hands on her sides. She looked a little ticked off.

"What the hell?" Duncan snaps as he sees her small but protruding stomach.

"Oh this," she waves to her stomach as she moves into the room where he could get a better look. "Some jerk knocked me up and then dumped me for his former girlfriend," she says as Logan moves so she could sit beside me.

"No, no way…" Duncan stumbles out as he just looks at Meg and her stomach.

"Yes, and before you even ask I was only with you," Meg snaps as she takes in his expression.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks bewildered.

"Um, let's see you were arrested for murder, and then you ended things with me. You wouldn't listen to reasoning and only wanted to light the candle with Veronica even though she told you she wasn't interested," Meg as she grasps my hand in her bringing it to her stomach as I feel a sharp kick.

"Mommy has an attitude little baby," I say as I kiss the spot where I felt the movement.

"I didn't know," Duncan mutters as he moves to come closer to us. He is standing in front of Meg as he drops to his knees. "I would have never left you if I had known," he says seriously as he begins to reach out to touch her but lets his hand drop to his knee instead.

"Duncan I will not be second best to you. I needed you and you left me high and dry. I don't know if I even want to be with you anymore," Meg says honestly as I watch Duncan stand up slowly before walking out of the room.

"Meg, seriously," I ask as I can see tears in her eyes. She was crying because to her once again Duncan wasn't choosing her. Logan gives in to the two of us as he lets us gorge on junk food and sappy chick flicks.

"I hope you kids did something more than lay around on the sofa watching TV and eating junk food," my dad says as he enters the house carrying a small box.

"Is it a pony?" I question as Logan chuckles seeing my expression to the furry head popping out of the box.

"No, it's a puppy of course," my dad says shaking his head.

"Don't worry Bobcat. I'll get you a pony as soon as we have a place of our own," Logan whispers seductively into my ear.

"Never going to happen, Echolls, my daughter and grandchild will live here till I die," he says as Meg laughs along with the light hearted humor. My dad put the box down as a small fluffy tan colored dog jumps out of the box.

"It's a fluffy pillow of fur," I hear Dick's voice for the first time all day.

"No Dick it's a Cocker Spaniel," Logan says as the room busts out in full fledged laughter. "Right, I forgot," he mutters as Dick continues to laugh as Mac just shakes her head at his maturity level. I headed into the kitchen to get something while the rest of the gang continued to debate over the new addition to our family as a knock on the front door changed my direction.

"Yes," I say as I open the door to see the last person I thought would be back.

"Veronica, can I come in," Duncan says softly as he gestures to the door that I had firmly kept half closed.

"Um, sure," I say as I open the door all the way. Duncan moves into the entryway just as the new puppy comes bounding into the entryway.

"Vee, make sure to close the door," Logan is yelling out as he comes chasing after the wayward dog. "Duncan," he says as I step to the side and picking up the dog.

"I just came to talk with Meg," he says as I see that my dad and Dick have joined us in the kitchen area. "Mr. Mars, Dick," he says as he moves closer to the living room.

"Duncan," Meg says surprised as we all followed.

"I can't stand by any longer and watch from the sidelines. Meg I want to be a part of this child's life. I want to be a better parent than what my parents have been. I choose you, I choose our child over everything else," he says as I see him hold out something to her. I hadn't even noticed him carrying the papers when I opened the door to him.

"What are these papers?" she asks.

"Look them over," he says as I watch her flip through them slowly before dropping them totally and flinging herself at Duncan.

"Well what the hell," Dick snaps as he takes in the strange event taking place in front of us. "What the hell did he give you Meg?" Dick snaps slightly louder than he should have.

"It wasn't what he gave me, more what he asked me," she says as she looks toward us confusion covering most of our faces.

"I asked her to allow me to make it up to her, by setting up a trust fund for our child. I want to be the father I never had," he says softly as I look over to Logan who knew more than any of us what that was like. I bent down to pick up one of the papers as I read the words on it, '_**Will you marry me!**_' was written in the center of the page.

Meg and Duncan had gone out on the back porch to talk. I knew deep down that Meg wouldn't forgive and forget so easily, but Duncan was making the right gesture to rekindle if he was willing to do it. Logan and I excused ourselves to our room with our new little puppy much to everyone's unhappiness. Mac wanted the puppy and Dick wanted to name it, but I got lucky when my dad nixed all of them.

"I guess starting out with a puppy will help us be better parents," Logan says softly as I see him rubbing the puppy's head softly.

"Shit!" I exclaim as I realize just what my dad was up to. Of course Logan would figure it out before I would, but man did he have to see it as oblivious as I hadn't even thought of it like that.

"Veronica," he softly asks wondering if something was wrong.

"I think that is actually what my dad is doing. He is giving us a life lesson without actually explaining it to us," I say as he chuckles.

"I was just joking, but yeah he was pretty adamant that the puppy was all ours," Logan smirks as I laugh. "There might be getting a second one if Duncan and Meg stay together. Good god your dad has a very unique way of teaching lessons. Aaron would have beaten me half to death or might have even killed me," Logan says as his mood turns dark for a moment.

"Hey, that will never happen. You are safe here with me and our mismatched crew," I say as the puppy licks at our faces as Logan leans in for a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Ah the ever young one is already proving to be a cock blocker," Logan jokes as he swats playfully at the rambunctious ball of fur. "I could totally see your dad getting this little pesky thing to keep us away from each other," he half mutters as he strokes the fur ball.

"Yeah, I bet he could shot himself for not thinking of this sooner," I laugh as we both lie back on the bed with the puppy in between the two of us.

"Do you have any names picked out?" he asked as I was wondering if he meant for the puppy or our baby.

"I don't know, it's not a man killer for sure," I joke as he laughs.

"No, she isn't one of those. I don't think she'll ever be a mean old dog," he baby talks her as she licks him.

"What about Polly or Rosa," I ask as he gives me a small smile.

"I would love a normal name like Sammy, but that seems more for a boy. Do you like Polly or Rosa?" he asks the puppy as she begins to jump at his hand that was mid air when he says Rosa. "Alright then, we have a keeper," he says picking her up. "You actually look like a Rosa," he says kissing her nose before sitting back against the headboard.

"Aren't you even wondering where I came up with the names?" I questioned as the puppy was calmly lying on his chest.

"I am actually interested in knowing, but hoping that it wasn't some mundane answer that I should know," he says softly as I move closer to him.

"No, I was actually going through PI terminology for a name," I say as he gives me a puzzled look. "I named Backup because my dad was Sherriff at the time, well dad is a PI now so," I say as he laughs.

"You are not naming our child if you go picking out names like that. We might end up with a Surveillance or Spy Echolls. No way," he says as he starts laughing. I nudge him softly to stop him as he rolls over causing Rosa to bark at him for disturbing her sleep. "Sorry sweetie," he coos at her as he lays back down.

"Right, funny," I say giving him a hard laugh before turning serious. "No, I haven't thought too much on that name just yet. I was thinking along the lines of Polygraph for Polly and Sub Rosa for Rosa," I admit as he smiles.

"I totally know what a polygraph is, but what is sub rosa," asks as I laugh when I think up the actual definition.

"Sub Rosa means an injury related surveillance or investigation," I say hoping I got it right. I watch him pick up Rosa and study her carefully before nodding his head.

"Yes, she seems like a little injury investigation," he chuckles as I swat at him while he gets out of bed with the puppy and heads toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I mutter as he totally gets serious.

"I do think this little Rosa needs to do some investigation outside before she does her business in our room," he replies as I totally understand what he means. I forgot she wasn't potty trained just yet.

"Okay, let's go," I say as I get out of bed and grab his free hand as we head downstairs.

"Finally, you dog hogs," Dick says as he takes the puppy from us.

"Dick," Logan starts but stops once Dick squeezes the puppy.

"Oh shit, damn it," Dick mutters loudly as he turns back toward us holding Rosa out from his body, but it was clear as day. Rosa no longer needed to do her investigating. She found the spot to do her releasing.

"I tried to warn you," Logan says trying so hard to keep from laughing, but the look on my dad's face when he came in from the back door at our little scene made him crack up.

"Well I guess I don't need to remind you two teens that puppy's tend to need more outside breaks than normal," he says looking from Dick back out the door as he exits. Dick quickly passes Rosa back to Logan who hands her off to me before as we watch Dick head upstairs.

"Good girl," I say softly as I pat her on the head while she licks my face.

"Veronica," Logan retorts smiling as we walk out the door to join our family and watch a playful puppy chase after Backup in the now fenced in area.


	8. Chapter 8

Shattered, Forgotten and Treasured

Chapter 8: Pool, juice and conversation

**Logan**

Nothing meant more to me than to lay next to the one person who meant the world to me, but the noise downstairs was becoming louder and louder. I didn't want it waking Veronica up so I ventured out of my nice warm bed to see who the heck was disturbing my peace.

"It woke you up as well," Keith asks as he stands at the top of the stairs looking down.

"Yeah," I muttered as honest as I could be at the racket. I was surprised it hadn't woken up the whole house.

"It's Duncan and Meg," Keith says as I begin to make my way down the stairs hoping he was following me, but no he hadn't.

"It's 4 in the morning DK, this better be damn good," I snap as they both turn around to look at me surprised that anyone was up at all.

"Logan just go back to bed, Meg isn't thinking clearly right now," Duncan mutters throwing his hands up in the air. I looked from him to her. Meg looked like she was on the verge of crying.

"Are you alright, Meg," I questioned as she looked past Duncan to where I was standing.

"Yeah, Duncan is leaving," she says softly as Duncan turns to make his way toward her, but I jumped in between them before he could get to her.

"Like hell I'm leaving. I don't want you staying here any longer. I want you to stay with me at the Grand," he mutters as she just wraps her arms around herself.

"I already told you 'no' to that idea. I am staying right here," she replies as he begins to pace.

"Why the hell not?" he questions snapping at her.

"I will not stay with you unless I know for sure you are in this for the duration of the pregnancy. Duncan you broke up with me once you found out Veronica was no longer your sister. I don't want you hurting me again," she says softly as I understand her reasoning.

"I told you I was sorry," Duncan snaps as he pushes me slightly to get to Meg, but I held my ground.

"I think you should leave," I finally say as he looks up at me.

"Why?" he snaps.

"I think Logan is right," I hear the voice of the one person I was hoping wouldn't wake up.

"If it isn't Veronica Mars!" Duncan snaps as he turns to face her.

"It's Echolls, Duncan. I have told you that more than once," she says as she walks into the living room where we had moved during the conversation.

"I want Meg to leave with me!" he yells once more.

"Duncan, Meg isn't going anywhere with you until you clean up your attitude. I know you want her to, but the reality of it is you need to wait for her to decide to leave. Just because you apologize and ask her to marry you doesn't fix the way you treated her," Veronica says as she moves a little closer to us.

"I don't understand. I just don't get why girls can't move past issues like this," he snaps as he pushes past Veronica, and out the front door slamming it hard as he leaves.

"I'm sorry our argument woke you guys," Meg says as Veronica collapses on the couch beside her.

"Hey don't do that," Veronica says as she wraps an arm around Meg.

"Veronica is right, don't let his actions and words beat you down," I say as I sit down beside of Veronica.

"Do you girls want to head up to get more sleep?" I question as Meg looks toward me while Veronica just rubs her stomach.

"Sure, but Meg is staying with us," Veronica replies as I give them both a hand to help them up. As we are walking toward the stairs I lock the front door and set the alarm. I didn't want Duncan coming back and entering the house without us knowing.

Meg got in Veronica's spot on the big bed while Veronica got in on my side. She moved toward the middle of the bed as I got back in. I looked over to the clock near the TV as I saw the moonlight entering the room.

"Thank you," I heard Meg whisper in the darkness as I felt Veronica snuggling into my side.

"It's no problem," she replies as I feel Meg moving closer as well.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I wake up and find Dick has joined us," I joke as both girls laugh.

"Please don't tempt fate," Veronica says softly as I look toward the bedroom door to see Keith standing in the shadow nodding his head. I closed my eyes and fell back to sleep.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I was upset that Duncan was being rude to Meg, but I was glad she had stood her ground even if she needed some help in doing so. I had somehow wiggled my way out of bed at 7. I was stuck between Meg and Logan, not that I am complaining or anything.

"Hey dad," I say as I sit down on one of the stools.

"I thought you might sleep in longer," he says as he sips his coffee.

"Why?" I question as I notice his downcast eyes. "Dad, why didn't you throw Duncan out," I half whine as I notice he knows why I was asking him it.

"I didn't want to be the bad guy after all," he jokes as I just shake my head.

"No, really I thought you thrived on throwing asses out the door every chance you got," I snapped as I hear the front door open and close.

"Good another teenage delinquent," he mutters as he gets up.

"No, not another teenage delinquent, you know my mom would kill me if I was that. Neptune High was closed due to bomb threats," Wallace smirks as he sits down where my dad was once sitting.

"Seriously," I ask as my dad places some already cooked bacon on the counter before he pulls out the pancake flour.

"Kids now a days," my dad says as he pours some batter in a hot skillet.

"Dad," I snap as he looks over at me. "Just because some kids act out doesn't mean that all kids do," I say as he shakes his head.

"Well sweetheart are all the kids having babies in high school," he counter questions me as I just give him a tight lipped smile.

"No, Meg and I are just very special," I say as he throws his hands up in the air in mock defeat.

"I need more of this father daughter conversation time," Wallace says as he laughs at our little disagreement. "It is so neat to watch you two have conversations, it's almost like a soap opera," he says as I just nudge him in the side.

"Why would you want more of them bickering?" Logan questions as he enters the kitchen in his boxers and a t-shirt.

"For some reason, it seems like the only normal activity in this house," he replies as Logan laughs at his response.

"Actually that does make sense," Dick says as he enters the room as well but with more than just his boxers on in his surfing shorts and no shirt.

"Dick why don't you go surfing or something and let the adults tak," I jutter as he gives me a smirk.

"I must say Ronnie I didn't figure you were one to share, but I found Meg in your bed when I was looking for Logan," he says giving me a toothy grin.

"I wouldn't make her mad, Dick" Logan says from next to me. I give him a smile as I pick up the cup of juice my dad had poured for me and walked over to where Dick was.

"Meg was having a bad morning, so Logan and I was helping a friend out since the rest of her friends were all till sleeping in their cozy beds," I say as I gab at his chest moving him toward the sliding door leading to the beach.

"I can't help it if I am a sound sleeper," Dick retorts as he has no idea what I am about to do to him.

"That may be so, but in this house if one of us is up due to a problem, we all need to be supportive of that person," I say as he is now fully out the door on the wood deck.

"I didn't know there was a problem, gosh Ronnie you are blowing this whole thing out of proportion," Dick whines as I turn around to see everyone looking at the two of us.

"No Dick I am making you aware of an issue. You have no right to joke about my relationship with Logan or make the remark you did about Meg," I say as I lift the cup in my hand and pour the juice over his head.

"Veronica," my dad was still saying as I felt two arms wrap around me as I was being picked up.

"Dick put me down," I snap as he laughs.

"Dick put her down," Logan says as he has finally decided to join us on the deck.

"I will," Dick says as he moves us toward the pool.

"Dick you better…." But my words were drowned out as he tossed me into the pool.

"You better run," Logan is yelling as he reaches for my hand, but I decide to pull him in. "Veronica," he sputters out as he pops his head out of the water.

"Darling," I say as I wrap my arms around his neck.

"Yeah, you being all nice isn't going to help the fact that you pulled me into the pool," he says as he gives me a kiss on the forehead.

"Yet, here you are," I joke as he smiles. It wasn't long before Wallace, Meg and even Dick join us in the pool splashing around like it was a normal event.

***LoVe***

"Are you still upset about the pool incident?" Logan asks as we are cuddling in the lounge chair looking out toward the beach where Dick was currently bothering Wallace as he was flying his plane.

"No," I say honestly as he rubs my small baby bump. It was weird sometimes for him to do that, but at the same time it made me feel safe in his arms.

"I wish that life would always give us good times," he whispers into my ear as he pulls me closer to his body.

"You've been distant since you got that phone call earlier today," I say as I turn in his arms to look up at him.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice about that," he mutters darkly.

"Why?" I ask as he looks past me taking his arms from around me and moving over in the chair.

"Veronica," he says sternly as I sit back next to him.

"Logan, we are in this relationship together, there is no Veronica or Logan because we are one," I snap as I go to get up agitated that he was willing to hide something from me. I am standing up moving around the chair when his hand grabs my wrist.

"Don't go," he mutters as I turn to look at him.

"I don't want to, but whatever it is can't stay hidden," I say as he pulls me.

"It was Cliff, Aaron wants to see me. He is saying that our marriage wasn't legal and is having his lawyers trying to find any loophole they can to get our marriage annulled," Logan says as I sit back down filling like the air got knocked out of me.

"But… how can he?" I finally say as I see the distant look still in his eyes.

"I don't know. Cliff says he hasn't been informed totally about the baby, but it's only time before he gets that news. I'm sorry for dragging you into this," he says as I feel angry that he would think this was his fault.

"Hey, there are no pity parties in this family. You did nothing wrong. This has Aaron written all over it. He isn't ready to give you a chance at life. He just wants to drag you down with him, but he can't because you have me and our family. Cliff will sort all this out for you," I say as I lean over placing my hands on both sides of his face forcing him to look at me.

"Thank you," he whispers as my lips brush his.

"I think that is what wife's are supposed to do. They are to give advice and support their husbands," I joke as he laughs.

"Where did you hear that from?" he says as he kisses me softly on the lips.

"I saw it on a news report. Logan we both had mom's who didn't act like they should have, but we are not our parents. I am not my mom, nor are you yours or Aaron. We make our own story," I say as he pulls me back to him.

"I like that," he replies as I try to relax again, but the weight of what he told me is weighing down on my soul. It bothered me that Aaron was pulling this kind of stuff to get to Logan. Logan had such a hard time as it was, and this was just a blow to his self-worth. I wasn't going to let Aaron hurt Logan anymore. I needed to come up with a plane to keep him away from Logan and our family.


	9. Chapter 9

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured  
Chapter 9: Soulful Confessions

**Meg**

I was so thankful that I had such good friends because all the stress over Duncan was getting to me, but I still cared for him. I mean he was the father of my unborn child, yet he scared me. Veronica and Logan have been so supportive and caring toward me that I hate thinking about even leaving them. Even Dick has helped me when I needed something. 

"How are you feeling this morning?" Veronica asks as she sits down beside me. 

"I have to admit the morning sickness is gone so I feel so much better," I admitted as we laughed. She had been lucky to not having it.

"I'm glad," she says as I watch her pull her feet up under her as she wraps herself in a blanket.

"I wanted to thank you for yesterday," I say as she looks over at me with a puzzled expression.

"Meg, what Logan and I did wasn't anything special. You are family and we take care of family here," she says as I hear the boys coming up the beach behind us. The screen was open on the patio door so we could hear them laughing and joking.

"I know, but I feel stuck with Duncan. I admit I would like for him to be a part of our babies' life, but I am not ready to be back together," I say as Veronica nods her head.

"I totally understand. Meg you have to really decide if him being a part of the baby's life is the right thing for you both. I had hoped he would be here to support you, but maybe he shouldn't be. I don't know how to help you with that," she says softly as I see her point. Duncan should be here, but he really isn't being supportive of my choice which isn't helpful to either of us.

"Thanks," I say as I see Logan coming in. They decide to leave as Dick comes into the room. I had to make a choice. I head to the front of the house where I knew Mr. Mars was.

"Meg, is everything alright," he asks as I enter the security room slash his office. Leo looks up from his pile of papers.

"Yeah, I actually was wondering if you knew of a good lawyer," I asked as he put the paper in his hands down and patted the chair beside him.

"Sure, but why," he questions as I sit down and explaining to him about the abuse my parents dished out toward my sisters and me. I broke down and told him that was the real reason I declined to go home in the first place. I then asked him for advice with how to deal with Duncan.

"I understand about your concerns for Grace and Lizzie. I will make sure Leo has someone look into it. I do have a friend who might help you with the legal issues with Duncan and your baby," he says as he makes as call to someone. An hour later we were sitting in an office waiting for one Cliff McCormick. I asked Veronica about him and she told me he was the families to go lawyer. He helped them when they all needed advice.

Cliff helped me set up a will expressing in deep depth what I wanted for my unborn baby in case I wasn't able to take care of him or her. I also set up a trust for the baby from money I inherited from a relative. I set Logan and Veronica as legal guardians over my child, and Cliff was able to dig up some medical issues about Duncan in case he tried to take the baby. I felt a lot lighter when I returned back to the house after doing everything I needed to do.

"How was your outing?" Dick asks when I walk into the living room where he was kissing on Mac's cheek. Wallace was sitting beside of her while Logan and Veronica were sitting on the sofa all snuggled up to each other.

"It was very productive," I say as I sit down beside of Veronica who opens her blanket up as I squeeze in next to her. We watch several sappy romance movies and eat pizza the rest of the night.

****LoVe****

**Logan**

"Where did Meg go?" I ask as Veronica as I enter out bedroom. She was lying on the bed reading her English book and jotting notes in a spiral notebook.

"She went out with my dad to meet up with Cliff," she says without looking up from her books. Mr. Clemmons decided it would be best for her and Meg to finish out the term at home. Since the babies were both due around the beginning of January they would have winter break.

"So Papa Mars is out," I whisper in her ear as I come up behind her and lay down next to her.

"Yes, but I have a lot of work to get done," she says as she pushes me away from her. I was about to get up when she reaches for my hand placing it on her stomach.

"Did you feel that?" she questions as I continue to feel the light shoving of our baby.

"Yeah," I say softly as I lay back down on the bed. Veronica turns around pulling her books with her as she lies on the pillows. I move further down on the bed placing my head on her stomach. I hear the soft noise of her rumbling stomach.

"Logan, I was wondering how you are dealing with Aaron and his issue," she softly as I freeze where I am. I was enjoying this little private moment and the thought of thinking of Aaron was ruining it.

"I don't want to talk about him right now," I snap. I feel her tense up as the words leave my mouth. "Vee, it's nothing to do with you, but I was enjoying our moment with our baby. He is the furthest thing in my mind," I say turning to look up at her. Lately she has been very emotional and I didn't want to set her off.

"I know, but I was thinking about it while I was reading," she says softly as I feel her fingers close on my hand. "Why do you think he is doing this to us?" she asks as I lift my head up and join her at the head of the bed.

"Honestly, just to screw me over. Aaron doesn't care about anyone but himself. Veronica the truth is this is all about power and control," I say as I say each of the words that I knew would be the only motivation for him to do this.

"I don't ever want him near our baby," she says as I nod my head. There was no way in hell that was ever going to happen in the first place. I would never allow him anywhere within the same distance of Veronica or my child unless it was out of my control. "The baby will be here before his trial, at least now with me at home all the time there is no way that he will find out about it," she says softly as I know just how she feels.

"Let's worry about Aaron later. Why don't we just snuggle?" I offer as she places her books on the nightstand.

"If I wasn't already carrying your spawn I would think you were trying to seduce me," she says seductively as I kiss the tip of her nose.

"I am also trying to seduce you Bobcat," I say using her nickname. I wrap my arms around her as she snuggles into my side. I hated thinking about Aaron and his wicked ways, but Veronica was one who thought about those little details. I loved her more than my own life, and the thought that Aaron might get to her because of me hurt. I hated that he already murdered one of my girlfriends and slept with her, but he wanted to do more with Veronica. He wanted to hurt her, and that was something I wasn't willing to let him do.

I told Veronica about him wanted to get our marriage annulled, but there was more to the story. He sent me graphic photos of what he wanted to do to her. He wanted to defile her in the worst ways, and I hated him for trying to control that aspect of my life. I hated how weak he made me feel at times. I didn't want to, but he had a way of turning me into that weak person. Yet, as I laid her with Veronica I felt strong. Her genuine love and thoughtfulness to detail made me a better person. I wanted to be a better person because of her. I slipped out of the bed reaching for the throw blanket covered her up.

"Hey have you got any news," I asked as I entered Keith's office.

"No, but I have a guy looking into it for me. I plan to pay Aaron a visit in a few days." He says as I look at the pile of picture of Veronica Aaron had sent me.

"I told Veronica about the lawyer and Aaron wanting our marriage annulled," I say as he looks up from the pictures.

"I feel there is a but in there," he says softly as he turns in his chair to look at me.

"I didn't tell her about these," I say as I lift up the photos. "I didn't tell her how he wants to destroy her, and then kill her. I couldn't do that," I mutter as I feel him put his hand on my shoulder.

"Logan, Aaron will never get his hands on Veronica. I will die before he will ever touch her again. I know you feel at fault for her being hurt and almost burned alive, but that wasn't on you," he says as I nod my head. I hated to think of that night; it was the night where it all came to light that Lilly had been sleeping around with Aaron behind my back. It was the night that he tried to burn Veronica alive in a freezer.

"I know," I mutter as I grit my teeth.

"I want you to focus on that wife of yours and the little baby you two will be having in a few months. I want you to let me deal with Aaron. I don't want him getting to either of you," he says sharply as I hear the door creak open.

"Hey, you disappeared," Veronica says as she enters the room as I watch Keith quickly close the file with the photos in it.

"Sorry, I thought I could talk with Keith about this situation with Aaron," I say as she looks over at her dad.

"Well what did you two decide," she asks a little annoyed.

"Retract claws my darling daughter. I told Logan I would handle it. I want the two of you focusing only on our little invader," Keith says smiling as he diffused the situation.

"Are you mad at me?" I question as we headed toward the living room.

"No, but I thought we would of handled it. I guess my dad handling it is better for all of us," she admits glaring at me with a pout of her lips.

"I think it's for the best. I don't want to waste my time thinking about him and his baggage. Especially when I have a great wife to love on," I say kissing her as I pull her onto the sofa.

"God, get a room will you," Dick moans as he enters the living room.

"Leave them alone," Mac says with a chuckle to her voice.

"Not again, seriously," Wallace mutters as he flops down on the couch next to us.

"Well if you don't like hit the road," I hiss through clenched teeth as Veronica buries her face into my chest.

"I don't understand why you two can't get your freak on in your room and not down here where we all hang out," Dick mutters as I watch Mac snuggle into his side. It amazed me how she put up with his ass.

"Dick, it's our house. If we want to make out right there on the coffee table we will," I snap as I feel Veronica laughing into my shirt now.

"Seriously man. TMI," Wallace says as he tosses a pillow in our direction. Mac turns the TV on while we all relax into watching some dumb sappy girly romance movies. I wasn't going to decline Veronica and it seemed no one else was going to either.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I hated waking up alone, but disliked finding my wandering husband talking intensely with my dad. When I entered the office I felt as if I had walked into a freezer. I knew by their hushed voices and expressions there was more to their discussion, but I was going to let it go for the moment. I mean I had to admire the idea of the two of them agreeing over it, but I hated being left in the dark. I knew Logan seemed off, but I thought he told me everything. As we were walking into the living room I wanted to confront him for lying to me, but when he asked me if I was mad at him I just couldn't do it. I would let them have this battle.

"Meg fell asleep," Wallace says as he gets up.

"I guess she had a busy afternoon," I say as I wait for Logan to come back with my water, just as he was walking back into the room Rosa decides to jump up on the couch taking over his spot.

"Really, I just wrangled her out of our laundry and now she takes my spot," he mutters handing me the water as he picks up the wiggling pup in his arms as he sits back down next to me.

"How is my little baby girl," I say as I take Rosa from Logan. She curls up in my lap as Wallace puts another video on. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen to change our family out of my mind as I leaned into Logan as my eyes began to close.


	10. Chapter 10

Shattered, Forgotten and Treasured

Chapter 10: Judgments and Rebirths

**Keith**

I decided that I needed to make a visit with Aaron before things got anymore out of control. I knew that Logan was already stressing out about Aaron getting anywhere near Veronica or their baby. I got up early made a pot of coffee as well as some pancakes with bacon. I left everything in the warmer for the kids for when they got up.

"Are you heading out?" Leo asks as he enters the kitchen area.

"Yeah, I'll probably be gone most of the day. Try to keep them all close to home today," I say as I pour some coffee in a travel mug. "I don't want Duncan Kane here either. I would like to talk with him before he hangs out here," I say motioning to him as he sits down at the counter.

I get into the Range Rover when I get into the garage. After backing out and heading down the drive way I waved at the guard in the little gate house. He waved back as he opened the gate for me and I headed toward the highway. I had a long drive ahead of me to pay Aaron Echolls a visit. The sick bastard was going to be hurting after my visit if he doesn't leave my family alone. I would let him know exactly what I thought about him.

"Hey, Mars," one of my old buddies say as I open the door to the prison.

"I was wondering when we would be seeing you here, Joe and I have been taking bets about when you would show your face," Jorge says as he elbows Joe in the side.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to come down here," I say as they both laugh.

"He's waiting for you in interrogation room 3. We will have a security guard posted in the room and outside of the room just in case," Jorge says as I smirk. Yeah, they both knew me a little too well.

"He might need a body bag if he pisses me off," I snap as the guys both nod.

"The letters on our end have been stopped. We had a guy who double checks his mail each day to limit what he sends out. I saved the letters and mail pertaining to Veronica," Joe says as he opens a cell door for me. I walk down the hall as I go through a metal detector and then get motioned through to the interrogation rooms.

"Keith Mars, I should have known you would be the one to get me up at this godly hour," Aaron says smugly as I walk into the room with my coffee and one of the guards Joe insists that Aaron will need in case he ticks me off.

"I just have a few questions for you," I snap as he leans back in his chair.

"You should know any questions you have for me should be vexed by my lawyer," the bastards sneers at me as he laughs.

"Well I doubt your lawyer would question you about the things I need answers to," I say as I slam his head into the table.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Aaron snaps at me as he looks back at the guard in the room who was looking anywhere but in his direction.

"I am the father of the girl you are sending harassing phots to. I am the father of the boy who only wants to protect her. I am the ticked off parents that see you for the trash you are," I yell at him as he just chuckles.

"My son will never be yours," he says spitting out some blood out of his mouth.

"Blood isn't the only thing that binds families, love and marriage does as well," I say as he lurches in his chair.

"He is my son, as soon as my lawyers find a loop hole he will be back under my thumb," he sneers at me smirking once again.

"I don't think you have any loop holes to find. Lynn was very through when she asked for my help. We had every 'I' dotted, and every 'T' crossed. I hate to tell you this but Logan is now my son, and I will do anything and everything in my power to protect him from the likes of you," I sneer into his face. I watched as the vain above his eye looked like it was about to burst.

"I will not be doing any such thing. Logan is my son and he will be as long as I decide to keep him. Once I no longer need him I'll let you know," he sneers toward me once more. I get up and punch him in the face.

"I hope you know just how easy it was for me to get in here to you. I have a lot of friends in here, I would watch my back or you might find yourself sharing community soap with a thug who doesn't like you. Stay the hell away from my children!" I say as I walk out of the room. I headed to Mars Investigation to cool off. Joe was right I could have easily killed him, but I didn't.

***LoVe***

**Dick**

"You need to stop peeing in my shoes," I tell the little puppy that was squirming in my hands.

"Whatcha doing with Rosa," Veronica asks as she sticks her head into my room.

"I'm trying to teach her, my shoes are not her peeing spot," I say as she just bursts out laughing. "Veronica this isn't funny, my shoes cost a lot of money," I groan as she takes the wiggling puppy out of my hands.

"I know, but the best way to break a puppy or dog from peeing or pooping isn't talking to them. It's rubbing their nose in the stuff," she says as I motion to where the offending shoes were. She bends down to the shoes with the puppy in her hands.

"I hate to do this, but Rosa this is not good," she says as she rubs the puppy's nose in the wet pee. The puppy squirms even more and tries to wrangle free, but Veronica holds her firmly as she rubs her nose once more.

"That should do it, but maybe you should keep your door closed in case it doesn't," Logan smirks from the doorway.

"Nice," I mutter as he comes into the room to help Veronica up. I watched as the two of them walked out holding the puppy in between them as I barely heard Logan whispering to it, "Good Girl!" I wanted to make a comment, but decided to let it go once I saw the way Veronica winked at me.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

"How are you feeling?" I questioned as Veronica got settled into a comfortable position on the sofa next to me.

"I am totally hating you right now," she mutters as I see her tense up as a picture of Aaron flashes on the TV screen. I give her a soft kiss to her forehead as she snuggles into me.

"What are you two fine lovebirds doing this afternoon?" Keith says as he walks into the room.

"We are waiting for Meg and the others to come in to watch a movie and eat junk food," Veronica says as I hear yelling outside.

"What the heck?" I say as I stand up to see Dick and Wallace making a commotion as Mac is holding Meg's hand while she seems to be muttering under her breath.

"Go grab her bag while we get her in the SUV," Mac snaps at Dick and Wallace who look like they are about to get sick.

"Mac, it's too early I have another month or so," Meg is crying as I see Veronica glaring at me.

"Oh, Meg," she says softly as I help her get up as it dawns on me why they were all getting frantic.

"Meg's in labor," I yell as Keith rushes back into the room followed closely by Leo who looked like he was eating something. I was in utter surprise as we all rushed around gathering things. I was thankful Veronica and I got to be in the car with Meg because Veronica was able to keep her calm during the ride to the hospital.

"You are doing fine," I say as I feel Meg squeeze my hand as she slightly began to cry a little more.

"I want Duncan, but I don't think I could handle him in the room," Meg half says as she clenches my hand harder.

"Veronica and I will both be here for you as will the rest of our motley crew," I say as she manages a small smile before gripping down once more. The rest of the ride was done in a flash as Leo helped her out as I helped Veronica out. The four of us made our way into the ER before the rest of our friends joined us. Meg was filling out papers to get checked in when the rest showed up.

"Are one of you the father?" a nurse asks as Meg looks up from her papers.

"No, nut both Veronica and her husband are going in with me," Meg states as she hands the filled out papers to the nurse.

"Then they'll both need to scrub down and change clothes," another one says as she begins to lead us away from the group. Wallace passed me Meg's things as we went by him. I helped Veronica change into some scrubs and then changed myself as we joined Meg in the Labor room.

"How are you feeling?" Veronica asks as soon as she was beside Meg.

"I want to kill Duncan," she mutters as I rub the damp cloth over her forehead. She wasn't alone I wanted to hurt him as well for being a jackass to her.

"Let's not think about him, but the little baby you're going to be having shortly," Veronica whispers to Meg as I take Meg's other hand. The doctor came in every half hour for 3 hours checking on Meg. It wasn't until the third hour did the doctor mumble something to the nurses did things get hectic.

"You have a beautiful little girl," the doctor says twenty minutes later. I was still holding her hand as one nurse took the baby to clean her up before passing her back to Meg.

"Don't worry, Logan made sure to hire someone to watch her when they take her out if needed," Veronica reassures Meg as she watches the nurses with her baby. Veronica had told me about the switch with Madison and Mac. I was just as concern for our baby as Meg's. There was no way anyone was going to be taking this child from our sight.

"She's so pretty," Meg whispers to her little girl. I had moved to join Veronica on her side of the bed while I took a photo of Meg with her baby.

"Have you thought of what you're going to name her?" a nurse asks with a paper in hand.

"Her name will be Lillian Faith Manning, Lilly for short," Meg says smiling at her little baby.

"Lilly would have spoiled her," Veronica says as the nurses begin to clear the room.

"Yes, she would have just to spend money," I mutter as Veronica nudges me in the ribs. "What? I was being honest," I say as I give her a kiss on the head.

"I think she is hungry," the only nurse left says as Lillian begins to get fussy.

"I'll go give the motley crew the news and then wait till your moved to bring them in," I snicker as Veronica aims to hit be as Meg chuckles.

"I'll text you when we move," Veronica says as I exit the door. I walk slowly down the hallway where the new babies were and found Leo.

"Keith asked me to stay close," Leo says as I approach him.

"Yeah, I would like you to keep tabs on Lillian, Meg's baby. I don't want her out of your sight if she leaves the room," I say as he nods his head.

"So how is she," Dick says as I see him nudge Mac.

"Is she alright?" Mac questions as I just shake my head.

"Don't make me beat it out of you?" Wallace mutters as I see him get worried.

"I just have to say you all better be this concerned when Ronnie goes into labor or she'll kill your asses," I mutter as Keith chuckles. I give them all the details about Lillian. She weighed 5lbs. 3 oz. and was 11 inches long. Lillian was a small baby for her age, but she was healthy. We were all laughing and joking when I heard the commotion outside the waiting room.

"I want to see my child," I heard the distinct voice of Duncan Kane as I made my way out of the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I question as I see him turn around to face me.

"I am her for my child. I heard she went into labor. I am the father so I have a right to be here," he snaps at me as it takes all my will power not to deck him.

"I am not going to ask you a second time to get out of here before I have to throw you out of here," I snap at him as he shoves me into the wall.

"What the hell is your issue? You have Veronica and now you what another girlfriend of mine. What is your issue you like to play house with our people's families? God, you just like your dad. He ruined lives because he played house with underage girls and…" Duncan didn't get to finish his sentence as I watched Dick slam him into the wall opposite of me.

"You don't know one thing about Logan or Veronica! Just leave like Logan asked," Dick mutters as I see Wallace behind him.

"I'm not leaving until I see my child," Duncan snaps once more.

"I think you will be leaving and not coming back anytime soon," Keith says as I turn to see him standing next to Jake Kane.

"Duncan lets go. This isn't the way to handle things like this," Jake says as I see him nod to Keith before I saw Duncan shove Dick away from him. He sputtered by his father mutter as I saw Jake shake his head and say something low to Keith before following his son. The moment Duncan was gone Veronica sent me a text to let me know where they had been moved. I told the others as we began to make our way up to Meg the lights in her room started to flash and a nurse pushed Veronica out of the room as the sirens began saying 'CODE BLUE'. Veronica was holding Lillian close to her as I wrapped my arms around her watching as the nurses and doctor worked on Meg.


	11. Chapter 11

Shattered Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 11: Attempted Cheer

**Veronica**

"Is she going to be alright," I blurt out the moment Meg's doctor leaves her room.

"She had a blood clot that was traveling to her heart, but we were able to catch it before it did any damage. Your friend should make a full recovery. She will need a lot of rest and very little stress though while she recoups," he says as I his pager goes off. He gives me a small smile as he walks away.

"Thank you!" Logan calls out as he nears the room over from where Meg was. "Stress free, looks like Meg will be doing very little for a while," he says as he guides us toward the room next to Meg's where everyone was staying at the moment. As we neared the door a nurse approaches us.

"I need to take baby Lillian to be checked out since she hasn't been fully looked over," the nurse says as I watch her. She seems nervous as hell glancing from me to the baby.

"I haven't seen you on this floor, Miss." Logan states as I try to get a better look at her ID.

"I am usually on the floor below, but the hospital is short handed so I was moved up here," she replies as I feel Logan tense up.

"Miss. Mason," my dad says as he waves a paper toward her.

"I'm sorry but I am trying to help this baby and these two people won't let me do my job," she mutters frustrated.

"Yes, well they are doing their job as the guardians of the little girl," my dad states a little harsher than he needed to. "Miss. Manning left her child in their care if she was unable to care for her. I hope you understand," he says as he hands her the custody papers. She leaves even more frustrated then when my dad was talking to her. There was totally something off with her.

"I can't believe Ronnie and Logan are hogging the baby," Dick mutters as we finally make it into the room. We couldn't leave the hospital until in the morning with her if she was cleared and Logan wasn't going to let her go to the nursery where someone could snatch her. I was thinking he was a little paranoid and hoped he calmed down by the time we had our baby or she would never leave the house.

"Just imagine what Logan will be like when Vee has their child," Wallace says laughing as I felt Logan tense even more. I knew thinking of our little girl scared and worried him, but I wasn't going to let him stress over it. He was nothing like Aaron Echolls.

"You guys forget where you spend most of your time," Logan says as Mac nudges Dick in the side while Wallace just shakes his head. My dad shares a look with Mac before he busts out laughing. He walks over to where we were as I was finishing up changing Lilly's diaper and he takes her. Logan moves to reach for her, but I grab his arm keeping him beside me.

I watch intently as my dad walks her around the room whispering to her as he kisses her little fingers. Mac then moves toward him as he passes Lilly to her. She walks over to Dick who wraps his arm around the two of them protectively. For some reason seeing him be so gentle and attentive to both Lilly and Mac makes me see him in a different light. He wasn't the asphat I thought he was. No, he was growing on me. He cooed and whispered things to Lilly as he played with her toes. Wallace declined holding her saying something about cred or whatnot.

"Mr. Mars, Miss. Manning is situated in her room. You can go into it now," a nurse says as Logan reaches for Lilly from Dick who muttered something too low for me to hear, but Mac nudged him anyway.

"I think we are going to all head out. Some of us have to go to school and get an education," my dad says as I see Dick hang his head while Mac whispers something to him that makes him beam at her. They all say their goodnights to us as Logan and I head toward Meg's room. The same nurse who let us know about the room brought Lilly's bassinet into the room with her bottle. She tells us how to feed Lilly and then leaves wishing us good luck.

"I thought this was going to be harder, but I feel so protective of Lilly. I can't even imagine hitting her," Logan says softly as he holds both Lilly and her bottle while I lean into his side watching.

"I know how you feel. I can't wait until it's our little girl you are holding and feeding," I say as he lifts Lilly up and softly taps her back to burp her. I am at a loss of words how gentle he was with her. I was glad he was slowly seeing how he wasn't like Aaron at all. He passes the half awake baby to me as he gets up and moves the bassinet closer to us guiding it into the small space beside the recliner chair we had been sitting in. He then takes her and places her into the bed, covering her up. I lean forward as he gets back into the recliner behind me.

"She looks a little like her aunt," I say after a little while. I can see him studying her for a moment before he nods his head.

"Yeah, she does. I hate to be the guy that falls for her. I mean with Duncan's genes and Lilly's along with Meg's it's going to be a disaster," he jokes as I nudge him.

"Yeah, but she'll have us to keep her on the straight and narrow," I say as Logan laughs.

"Right, you'll be teaching her how to break into the principal's office, Dick will teach her to surf, Wallace will try to get her to play basketball, Mac will teach her how to break into the firewall to protect you from getting busted in the principal's office, while Meg has to keep her out of our grasps," he says as I can see the picture he was painting.

"Okay smart guy, what will you be teaching her," I ask as I realize he left himself out.

"I'll teach her how to act rich of course," he says honestly. I can't hold back the laughter as I let loose.

"Your way too incorrigible," I mutter as he wraps his arms around me holding me close as I hear his breathing taper off. Logan was asleep as I was left to ponder his words. I was just about to fall asleep myself when I heard the nurse from earlier speaking to someone. "I tried to get her away from them, but the dad handed me papers with their names as her guardians," the nurse snaps as I wait quietly to see what she was going to do. "No, I can't get to her they have her right up against them. Yeah, I'll try again later. I understand," she mutters as she walks out of the room closing the door. I knew something was off on her.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I was brought out of my sleep by the soft whimpering sound. I thought that it was Rosa wanting out, but as I opened my eyes I realized that I was in the hospital. Then the events from the day before come back to me. Meg had gone into labor, we rushed to the hospital. Meg gave birth to Lilly and had to have surgery. I look over at the little tiny bundle next to Veronica and smile. I gently move Veronica up a little so that I could get up. I stopped mid move as Veronica groaned because of the movement. Once I was freed I picked up Lilly and held her close to my chest as I quietly walked out of the room.

"Mr. Echolls, I see that little Lilly is up," a nurse says as I recognize her from the delivery room.

"I think she needs changed and fed," I say as the older nurse chuckles at me.

"Yes, she probably does. I'm surprised that she slept so long, usually newborns wake at odd hours, but this little one slept for almost 5 hours," she coos to her as she takes her from me. I watch as she changes her on a changing table. She shows me where the formula was and how to make a bottle in case I needed one and no one was around to help me.

"I can't imagine a prettier baby than her," I say as she chuckles once more.

"Aren't you and your wife expecting a little girl of your own?" she questions as I look at her surprised that she knew.

"Keith, told me to keep an eye on the two of you. He explained how you both were keeping the little baby a secret, and if I didn't know I would have known she was expecting. Veronica is a tiny little thing," she says smiling as I nod my head.

"Yes, she is. I think she has gained 15 pounds or so. She's just about 8 months," I explain as she passes Lilly back to me. I thank her and move toward the waiting room on our floor. I knew there was a huge window that over looked Neptune and I wanted to watch the sun rise. I saw on a clock in the hallway that it was almost 4:30. I had just sat down in a chair when I heard a voice behind me.

"You are already sneaking off with her," Veronica says as she moves around the chair I moved to face the window. She had a blanket wrapped around her as she moved closer.

"She was wet, and whimpering so I thought I would get her changed and try to let you rest a little longer," I say as I lift Lilly up to burp her. Veronica sits down on the chair oversized chair next to me.

"Well I think Lilly and our daughter might already be joined because our little girl woke me up by pressing into my bladder. I had to get up to use the restroom," she mutters as I hear Lilly burp softly next to my ear. "What are the two of you doing in here and not the room?" she questions as she leans her head onto my shoulder.

"I was going to show Lilly the beauty of the sun rising," I say as she shakes her head on my shoulder.

"I do believe she's a little too young to appreciate the sun rising right now," she says softly as I realize that.

"Maybe, but its great practice for our own daughter," I say smiling as the red, orange, and yellow streaks begin to grace the morning sky. I don't think I would ever get tired of watching the sun come up. I loved the beauty of the colors coming up and even going down.

"Well I must admit I appreciate the scene," Veronica says softly as I wrap my arm around her and watch the sky transform from the dark to the day.

As I held Lilly in my arms while she slept I came to realize something that Veronica had been trying to tell me for weeks now. I wasn't afraid of hurting Lilly at all. Yes, I was worried at first because I thought I would hurt her, but once she was placed in my arms I felt the serene presence to protect her.

Yes, I hate to admit it, but Veronica was right I wasn't anything like Aaron Echolls. I was better than him because I knew the difference between love and anger. Looking down at Lilly all I could see was compassion and love for her. There was no way I could ever hurt something as innocent as a child. Yes, I would be a better father to my child than the one I had as a father.

***LoVe***

"Veronica, make up your mind. We can't hold this tree up all day for you to decide," Dick mutters as we hold the Christmas tree up waiting for Veronica to see if it was straight or not. I understood Dick's frustration because we had moved the tree twice from different spots because she didn't like where it was. We were currently in the living room in front of the bay windows.

"Dick, move it to the left closer to Logan and I think it will be straight," she says as I look over to her. I feel it coming my way just as I see Mac enter the room. "Mac," she calls out as I hold onto my side tightly hoping that we don't have to move it again.

"Okay," Mac says as she makes her way under the tree to tighten the screw holding up the tree. I let go once I feel that it isn't loose. I turn to look out the window to see Meg and Keith talking on the porch while Alicia holds Lilly. It's been a month since Lilly was born and three weeks since Meg came home. Duncan tried to swipe Lilly at the hospital, but luckily Veronica foiled that plan when she told her dad about the nurse she overheard talking with a mystery person on the phone.

"Are you alright Logan?" Veronica questions as she sits down beside me pulling me out of my mind.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about stuff," I say pulling her closer to me.

"What about?' she questions softly as if she was worried I might get upset. I lean into her more giving her a small kiss.

"That this will be my first Christmas without my mom or Aaron's influence," I whisper as she turns to look at me closer. "I mean for as long as I can remember Christmas in the Echolls house wasn't about the season, but our family was on display for the world to see. My mom would get designers and caters to organize the whole thing, while Aaron sucked up to the big wigs in Hollywood. It'll be nice to just relax and not have to worry about appearances," I say lower so that only she could hear me.

"If that was it, then stop moping or sulking over here when the real party is over here with our family and friends," she gleefully says as I turn to see our dining room table littered with all sorts of Christmas stuff. I didn't know what half of it was, but smiled as I got up and then helped her up. We spent the next hour placing ornaments, tinsel, lights, candy canes and so many other things that I forgot about my thoughts and just enjoyed the present.

"Man I think your lady goes a little overboard on the season," Dick says as I turn to watch Meg, Mac, Alicia and her in the kitchen mixing and stirring things just laughing and talking.

"Well after this past year, I think she deserves to let loose and enjoy herself while making the rest of us keep up," I say as Wallace agrees with me.

"Oh, no," I hear Keith mutter as he enters into the living room handing me a letter before staring intensely at the one in his hand.

"What's the matter. " Wallace asks as he notices Keith's pale look of sadness.

"This," he mutters as he holds up a jury summons note addressed to Veronica.

"That's all yours," I say as I move from the living room to the kitchen are as he heads out the front door muttering to himself. Everyone was talking and helping decorate the cookies the girls had made when Keith comes into the kitchen carrying several bags from Mama Leon's and the Sac-an-Pac.

"Who's hungry? I picked up dinner and desert," Keith says setting the bags on the only empty space on the counter.

"Dad's what's going on?" Veronica questions right away as if she knew something was up.

"You wound me. Can't a father pick up some grub and desert for his family without the third degree," he says as he passes me a look.

"Just spit it out," she remarks at the lack of encouragement.

"Remember I love you very much and that you should play nice with the other children," he retorts as she gives him a glare and tilts her head. He passes her the offending letter.

"Oh, Shit! Seriously like I don't have enough to do now I have jury duty," she mutters as Alicia looks at her with a bewildered expression.

"Chocolate chip or chunky monkey," Keith asks trying to lighten the mood only to get the rest of us to burst out laughing as Veronica glared even harder at her dad. My oh my if looks could really kill.

"I think I need something stronger than ice-cream to soften my mood," she mutters as Dick holds out a silver flask to her.

"Dick," I snap as Mac pulls him away from the group before Veronica could take it, for her to end up laughing at the sincere expression on Dick's face. Yes, we were all mix matched friends, but when it all came down to the wire we had each other's back.


	12. Chapter 12

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 12: Jury Duty

**Veronica**

"Please play nice with the other children," Logan says as I open my door to get out. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the little fact that I had jury duty. Well Logan didn't like the idea of me not being home with him all day, but he also told me last night this will give everyone a break from my Christmas to do list.

"I can't make any promises," I say as I lean back to give him a quick kiss.

"Seriously though, sweetie play nice," my dad says equally amused as I keep tight lipped. I wasn't going to let them get to me just because I was stuck I'm a stupid civic duty. Ugh! I checked in and took a seat waiting with the rest of the jury pool. I was looking over a few last minute notes about the case when I looked up to see it was almost 1:30. The end of the testimony was over and now we were going to deliberate. I was tired and sore from sitting so long, but I had promised Logan to keep mum about the baby to keep me out of the press.

'_Jury duty on Christmas break. No sing-alongs, no poignant messages of universal love and hope, just cell phones out, watches eyeballed, jackets left on. And a commitment to the sacred ideal of drive-through express justice well the justice part is still being waited on for Aaron Echolls the sick bastard who murdered my best friend in cold blood_'. I think as I enter the juror room last taking the only chair left unclaimed at one end of the long table in the room. One of the guys looks up at me as I sit down but then looks the other way. Everyone slowly takes their seats.

At the other end of the table or maybe even the head of the table, an older man no doubt an entitled 09er was sitting watching each of us as we took our seats. He must have been a business man because the moment we were all seated he tapped his glass to get our attention like he was in charge.

"All right, ladies and gentleman. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get back to our lives. First order of business, I believe, is to elect a jury foreman. Do I hear any nominations or volunteers?" the man snips as if this was the last thing he wanted to be doing, almost like he was better than the rest of us. "All right, hearing no nominations, I have a proposal since this case strikes me as a fairly open-and-shut one. Let me see, would anyone object to letting our young lady serve as our foreman?' he smirks as everyone turns to look in my direction. This isn't something I wanted to be doing right now.

"I think that is a good idea," another lady near the business man says as she looks down at me.

"I mean this would be a nice chance for her to learn about civic responsibility in the justice system," the business man says even more determined. I was totally pissed off at him. "Great! All in favor of letting Miss. Mars serve as foreman raise your hands," he continues avoiding looking toward me. I watch in horror as everyone around the table raises their hands.

"Thanks, and my name is Mrs. Echolls," I bitterly say as I see the man who looked at me enter smile. He was dressed like a sports fan. He had on a sports shirt and a baseball cap.

"Absolutely," the Sports man says giving me a tight smile. I don't know what else to do as I nervously smile at him before turn to my notes. I was getting a little ticked off by the man who thought he was in charge. I mean clearly he knew who I was, but was enjoying the idea of pissing me off.

The twelve of us including a waitress, a college professor, a Hispanic grandmother and several other ill fated jurors deliberated for the rest of the afternoon going over all the names of the people involved in the case, and who had a reason to be mentioned. I was getting very tired of the 09er jerk who thought he was god's gift. If we didn't close this case soon I was going to be on trial for murdering him. As I was walking out of the room I noticed Leo waiting for me in the hallway.

"Where's Logan?" I asked as he took my bag from me.

"He was called in by Cliff to talk a little bit more about the case," Leo said as he led me down a different hallway.

"Where are we going?' I questioned as I leaned against the elevator siding as we waited for it.

"I am taking you to the basement where Logan should be waiting," he says as the business man approached us. "Play nice," Leo muttered as he joined us.

"Miss. Mars," he snips toward me. I turn to look at him.

"My name is Mrs. Echolls, if you call me Miss. Mars once more I am going to taze you," I snap as I pull out my nice little friend showing him the jolt as I pushed the on switch.

"Veronica," Leo says as I step into the elevator.

"You don't mind waiting for the next one do you," I snap as I push the close door button. Leo was half laughing at what I just did as we walked out of the elevator heading toward the Range Rover when I saw Logan leaning against it. He didn't look very happy, but when his eyes meet mine she gave me a small smile.

"Did you play nice with all the other kids?' he questioned as Leo busted out laughing. Leo spent the drive back to our house describing how I put some jerk in his place. Logan squeezed my hand once on the way home as he looked out the window. I didn't know what had happened but he was lost in his own world. We ate dinner with Dick and Mac. Meg was out with her sisters and my dad. After dinner Mac and Dick disappeared outside while Logan and I headed up to our room with Rosa.

"Logan, you want to talk about what's been eating you?" I questioned as I settled myself on my side of the bed. He turned around to face me from the opening to our bathroom.

"If I say 'no' will you leave it alone," he mutters as I feel like it was a bigger issue than what I had previously thought.

"I am just…" I start but he holds up his hand.

"Of course not, you're Veronica and you need to know everything," he snaps at me as he shuts the bathroom door banging it against the door jam roughly. I couldn't believe it. We were fighting. This wasn't what I wanted to do when we came up for bed. I wanted to go into the bathroom and lay into him, but instead I lay down, and turned out the lights. I no longer was in the mood for it. I had a crappy day, and our child was squishing my vital organs and playing soccer as I tried to relax. I vaguely heard the water in the shower turn on, but then I was lost in my head.

"Ronnie, you awake," I barely hear Logan whisper as I feel his cool skin against my shoulder.

"Um," I mutter as I think back to before I closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you. I had a shitty afternoon, but shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm sorry," he says as he pulls me closer to his body. I wanted to pull away, but I needed him as much as he needed me. I closed my eyes as I fell back to sleep.

****LoVe****

After the rough night with Logan I woke up in a crappy mood. My mood didn't get any better when I realized that Logan had already left for his day. My dad tried to reassure me that it wasn't anything against me, but it's hard not to think it had something to do with me. I hated the fact that Logan was still being hurt by the ass of a dad he had. I hated even more that I had to get up and dressed during my break to serve jury duty. Leo drove me to court once again, and told me that both Logan and my dad wanted him to remind me to play nice.

I was in a fool mood as the entitled prick of a CEO began making his nonsense float around about the case. He was complaining about having to serve as I was walking around the table since my back was killing me and I felt like I had sharp pains every once in a while. I knew that some women had false labor pains so I wasn't going to rush into any crazy frenzying.

"You know we all have better things to do than pull jury duty over the holidays, and I feel your pain," I say as the prick just gives me a chuckle. I so wanted to pour the hot liquid in my cup over his head and be done with it.

"Really, I don't think your little high school cheerleader mind understands the hassle this is for me. Does your pain affect two hundred thousand stock holders? I'm supposed to meet with outsourcing contractors in Bangalore. Would you like to call them all up and explain to tell them why their CEO couldn't show for an important meeting?" he sneers at me as I discourage myself for snapping.

"Also while you at it would you explain to my boss why I had to take unpaid leave from my crap waitress job. If not could I please suggest we get on with it?" the waitress with two kids says as I just want to scream.

We begin to get more into the semantics of the issues of who was where and what each person was doing. I mean yesterday it seemed like it all fit, but with the lone holdout it prolonged the case. I was thinking about all the facts even as I struggled with trying to keep a level head about it. I kept thinking about Logan, but needed to focus on the issue at hand.

I wasn't expecting that the elderly lady would have a point, but she did. Why would a girl who busted her butt working at a carwash do tricks on the side. There had to be more to the story than what was presented to us. I mean could the two boys just be innocent and had been in the wrong place or were they really the bad guys. I learned long ago that even the innocent could be guilty.

"Hey," I say as I exited the juror room to find Logan waiting for me outside.

"Hey," he says as he pulls me into an embrace. The stress of the day goes away the moment I was in his arms. I knew we both had issues, but what couple didn't. I knew he was dealing with a lot just as I was.

"You were gone this morning," I say as I fiddle with his wedding band as Leo drove us home.

"Yeah, Dick and I went to surf this morning to clear my head. I wanted to get back before you woke up, but I missed you by ten minutes," he says as I see our drive ahead of us.

"I missed you," I say as he helps me out of the SUV.

"I hate that I am hurting you," he says as he leads me toward the side of the house where there was a pathway leading to the beach. "I mean Veronica you are my life, but I couldn't bare it if something happened to you," he continues as I see a blanket under an umbrella with a picnic basket on it.

"Logan, I know this stuff with Aaron isn't ideal. I just want you to talk to me. Please don't bottle it all up," I say as I sit down on the blanket once we get to it.

"I want to tell you everything, but I can't," he says but stops as he looks up into my eyes. "The reality of the abuse at his hands in devastating, but talking about it is killing me," he mutters as he turns to look out at the ocean.

"It's alright, you have us now," I say leaning into him as he wraps an arm around me. It was true; he had me and our child. I wasn't going to turn away from him in his time of need. I would wait it out right beside him.

****LoVe****

I was pissed off as I woke up knowing it was Christmas eve and I had to be in a freaking juror room deliberating because eleven other people couldn't work together to solve this case. Logan was in a better mood now that all his testifying against his dad was taken care of. I still would like to have been a fly on the wall in the room where he was going into detail about every little thing his dad did to him. He had been through enough.

"Veronica, I love you," Logan says as he helps me into the waiting SUV. I was going to miss all the last minute things the guys were doing to have everything done for tomorrow. I blew him a kiss as Leo started to drive away. I mean everyone was trying to give me hints about the people involved in the case. I had no clue how everyone knew what trial I was on.

Dick had helped me get the facts about Carnell Myles being represented by Robert McKinnon's dad before he blew his knee out. My dad helped me with looking into some other details. I mean everyone was helping except for the prick who was making me regret not murdering him. I mean I was going on my fourth day with him and I hated him.

"The gun belonged to Anissa," I blurted out while the other jurors were smarting off about how long someone would be in jail. It was the only logical fact. If it truly didn't belong to the boys it was hers, she did have a firearms charge against her. Everyone looked toward me as the prick just sat back in his seat and placed his hands behind his head.

"This should be good," he mutters with a huge smirk plastered on his face."We know she has a firearms rap. Parole in those cases forbids you to own a gun. The boys attack her, she pulls the gun, they flee, but if she admits the gun is hers, its prison for sure. She has to ditch the gun before the cops arrive. But she's too beat up to do it herself," I start as I think about it all as I say it.

"Right, so she has to get rid of the gun or she'll get in trouble for it. She decides to get her friend to do it. Anquan Simmons," the professor says as she looks over a few of her notes.

"Yes, she calls him right after the attack, and who was seen fleeing the scene twelve minutes later with a gun in his hand," I finish for her as I feel a very sharp pain in my side. I rub my hand down my side trying to ease the pressure.

"Okay aside from the theory you just yanked out of your..." he starts but pauses before continuing, "...imagination...what ties the gun to Miss Villapondo?" he questions.

"For me it was all just a process of elimination. The guy running from the motel wasn't Carnell Myles, so it couldn't have been his. If it belonged to the boys, Anissa wouldn't have needed to hide it. Their fingerprints would have been on it as well as hers," I say as I am interrupted.

"Right, but that still leaves..." the Sportsman says as I smile before continuing with my thoughts.

"It still leaves Anissa and the anti-gravity guy that we all saw hopping the fence. So unless that guy was in the room the whole time, which neither the defense nor the prosecution has proposed, the gun would have to be Anissa's," I say with a smile as I sit down in my chair waiting out another sharp pain.

We re-watched the video and talked a little more about the anti-gravity man as well as everyone telling a point that stuck out to them still. I was amazed how everyone was able to work together except for the CEO who thought he was better than the rest of us. We were all voting as the Bailiff came into the room. My prick CEO had just ended our vote 10 to acquit 2 not to.

"Pardon me, Miss Mars, the judge would like to see you in her chambers, he says as I keep quiet about my name.

"Mrs. Echolls here's something for our foreman to pass along: I will never vote for conviction. No matter what. You tell the judge this jury's hung," he sneers at me as I walk out of the room. The judge asked me details about what was going on and how she would like the case closed today. I explained to her what was going on, but she didn't want to hear it. She wanted it done.

"What happened?" the waitress asked the moment I walked back into the room.

"She asked me whether we were deadlocked. I said no. Then she said we're not going home until we reach a verdict," I mutter as I grab for my bag pulling out my water. The news wasn't new, but the look of disgust and hatred from the CEO made me ticked off thinking of how his attitude had ruined this experience for me. This news is met with various expressions of frustration. The Captain of Industry, now in his seat, stares at Veronica in pure hatred. The Latina woman gets her knitting out of her bag and sits down again.

"I'm not questioning your integrity. I'm just asking you for a logical response to the points I've raised," I yell out as I leap to my feet while he stares me down.

"Logical? Look, Barbie doll..." he sneers at me as he plows in at me. "I've had a bellyful of your snide little digs. Here's my final word," he snaps at me as he emphasizes his words by standing to his feet, "I'll never, ever, send two 09er boys from good families to jail on the account of that Mexican whore!" The professor couldn't believe his words. The Hispanic woman who sat beside him the whole time looked ticked off. It was at this time that a break was asked for, but it didn't matter as the other hold out decided to change his vote.

"Did God just speak to you?" the CEO snaps as we all look at him.

"Sir, I think that's a bit out of line," the man says looking toward me.

"You're right. I apologize; I'm changing my vote as well. I mean even lying hookers deserve a little holiday cheer, don't they?" he sneers looking directly at me

"Are you serious?" the Hispanic woman asks as I wait for her to stick him in the stomach with one of her knitting needles.

"Course I'm serious. I'll sleep with visions of sugarplums, trusting their fate in a jury that doesn't kowtow to a high school cheerleader!" he sneers toward her as he takes his seat. I do the only thing I can think of as I thrust my arms out in a quick little cheerleading stance and give him a glare.

"Yay! Okay," I say in the best pep voice I could muster, "Let me take this moment to thank you. I learned a lot about civic responsibility," I continue in the peppy voice as he looks slightly uncomfortable. I was one of the last jurors out of the room as the professor approached me to let me know she thought I did a great job. I was a little surprised to hear how she would like for me to attend Hearst next year. I thanked her, but said I wasn't sure where I was planning on going since it was a part truth.

I was walking out of the juror room as I clutched my stomach once more just as my water broke. "Logan," I cried out as I felt a sharp pain radiate throughout my stomach as I saw the frenzy of people tackling someone to the ground as I lifted my hand up to see blood on it.

"Veronica," Logan yells as I fall to the floor holding my stomach in too much pain to get up. "It's going to be all right," was the last thing I heard him say as I see the man tackled to the ground smirk at me as my eyes closed.


	13. Chapter 13

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter : Arrival of Insanity

**Logan**

"Have you heard anything?" Mac asks as I pace the hallway of the small waiting since I wasn't allowed back in the operating room when they brought Veronica in.

"Nothing," I mutter looking around at the familiar faces of our family and friends. I knew how much each of them meant to Veronica since she thought she was all alone, but they were here for her. God, I hated not knowing what was going on because I was afraid I might lose both of them. I wouldn't be able to survive without Veronica, but I didn't want to lose our baby either.

"Echolls," I heard from behind me. I knew without even turning around who it was and I was livid that the bastard was even in the same area as me. It was one of his people who hurt Veronica.

"I suggest you turn around and get the hell out of here," I sneer toward Weevil as he came closer to me. He was holding a few bags, but I could care less.

"Don't worry Echolls, I'm not here for your sorry ass. I to see how Vee was doing, I would have called, but my Grandmother wanted me to bring down some food," he snapped back as I noticed Mac appear beside me. He handed her the food as I was about to turn away.

"Thanks," she whispered softly before retreating back toward the others.

"Look, I know you and I don't get along, but Veronica has helped me out more times than I'd like to admit. She is my friend, someone I know who will have my back and not screw me over," he said slowly as if he was testing the words out for the first time.

"Well it was one of your people who put her in here," I retorted as I see Keith stand up.

"Yeah, that is what kills me," Weevil admitted as I turned around to face him. I wanted to know what the hell he meant by that remark. I only knew the guy was Hispanic, but the meaning in his words was clear.

"Which one of your lackey's?" I snarled at him as I felt an arm on my shoulder.

"It wasn't one of my men. They wouldn't lay a finger on her. No, you know him as well," he snapped pointing a finger at me, but I was drawing a blank. "Well at least you were both hitting the same blonde," he snaps as I realize who it was. The bastard was his family.

"Now, you've got the nerve," I sneered at him as I shoved him roughly.

"Hold up! I am not guilty for his actions, but don't worry he'll get more than he bargained for when he gets to lock up," Weevil muttered darkly as I felt even more ticked off.

"Why did he do it?" I muttered as I let myself slide down the wall in the hallway away from the group.

"He blamed her for what happened with Catlin and then getting his ass laid to him by my guys. I only heard that he saw her as she was waiting for you and he took the opportunity to swipe a guard's gun and shoot her. I was told that the whole thing took less than 30 seconds," he mutters as he joins me.

"Yeah, well now I might lose my reason for living," I mumbled.

"Don't think like that! Vee's a fighter. She is going to come back to you, and I pray that your baby is well,' he says as I look toward him. "My grandmother mentioned it tonight when she asked me to bring you the food. She does work for you still," he said as I just looked up at Keith who looked wearily as I noticed the doctor in scrubs walking toward us. I got to my feet and stood beside Keith.

"Mars-Echolls," the guy said as he walked closer to us. I watched as Weevil got up and slipped out the same way he came. I would have to see about getting the whole story from him about his cousin.

"Yeah, that's us," Keith says as the doctor looks from us to the crowd behind us.

"I have some good news, but also some bad," he says as he holds a file in his hands as he scans the pages. I feel like my life was hanging in the balance. I was finding it hard to breathe as he looked at us.

"Relax Mr. Echolls," he says as he motions for us to follow him. "Your wife is doing well, she is a fighter," he says with a soft smile, but then quickly scans the file once more.

"Well that's great news, when can she be released. I mean we are expecting a baby and all," I say as I begin to ramble and I stop as I notice his expression.

"Mrs. Echolls was on the verge of having a miscarriage….." he replies as I tune him out dropping to the floor on my knees. I was ticked off that some asphat had taken my baby from me before I had a chance to know her. I get up from my spot and as the news began to sink further into my mind I knew I was going to be sick. I managed to make it to the bathroom barely as I leaned over the toilet and let go of the last thing I had. I was dry heaving into the bowl when I heard the door open.

"Logan," Keith says as he opens the stall door. I could care less at how I looked as I cried and heaved air out of my body.

"How am I going to tell her?" I start but he holds up his hand.

"You don't have to tell her anything. I will do whatever needs to be done, but you haven't heard all of it yet," he says as I scoff. I wasn't in no mood to hear all the gory details of how my unborn child was murdered.

"I don't think I could bare those details," I finally managed. He kneeled down in front of me.

"God, Logan your baby isn't dead just yet," he snapped halfway at me. He had my attention now.

"What?" I said as his voice lowered and he began again.

"Veronica was having a miscarriage, but the doctor performed an emergency c-section to try to save her and the baby. Your daughter is in the NICU right now. She seems to be a fighter like her mother. The doctor is keeping her on a ventilator because her lungs are a little small for her age, but he thinks she should be fine," he says as I wipe my mouth and lean toward him.

"I don't know what to say," I finally admit.

"Well I'm sure you'd like to meet her, but I bet Veronica would kill you if you saw her before she did," he jokes trying to lighten the mood, but there was a hint of seriousness to his words.

"Yeah, I'm sure your right," I say as he stands up holding his hand out for me. I took it without any reservations because I knew he wasn't Aaron. If it had been Aaron I had done what I just did I wouldn't be rinsing out my mouth, I'd be cleaning up whatever mess he made me.

I followed Keith as we exited the bathroom, but he wasn't heading back toward the waiting room. He was going the opposite way toward the patient's rooms. He stopped in front of 218 and I looked in the door to see Veronica lying in the bed. I moved past him as I sat down in the chair beside her. When I looked back he was gone. I reached for her hand as I held it as if my very life depended on it.

****LoVe****

**Veronica**

I felt like I was halfway floating through the air. I had this pain in my abdomen area, but couldn't bring myself to think too much on it as I felt the weight of something hairy on my arm. I opened my eyes to see Logan's head lying on my arm. I wanted to pull it away, but the sight of my dad staring at me from the doorway told me that it had been rough.

"Hey," I mumble as I move my other hand to my mouth. It was so very dry.

"I'll get you some water," my dad says as he walks out of the doorway. I wanted to yell for him to wait, but he was gone already. I ran my hand through Logan's hair and he began to stir.

"God, Ronnie I died a thousand deaths," he mutters kissing me roughly on the lips as my father re-enters the room, and clears his throat.

"Let's not ravish her just yet," he says softly as I see a small spark was missing from his voice.

"It's bad isn't it," I finally say as I sip on the water.

"Well, not really," Logan mutters darkly as I try to see his reason behind his words.

"What the hell does that mean?" I finally snap as I see them look at each other, and then I realize that I hadn't felt our daughter move. I felt it hard to breathe.

"Veronica, your okay breathe with me," Logan says sternly as I try to focus on his words, but the thought of my little girl not surviving was suffocating me.

"Honey, if this is about your little girl she's okay," my dad finally says as I jerk my head in his direction forgetting Logan.

"But I don't feel her," I cry out as I clutch my stomach to prove my point, only to have Logan grab for my hands.

"She is in the NICU," Logan says softly as I turn to face him once more. "I had the same reaction when the doctor told me you had miscarried, but I shut down before he said he performed an emergency c-section to try to save her," Logan replies as I nod at him.

"We have a little girl," I finally say after finding my voice.

"Yes, we do," he replies as he takes my face in his hands and kisses me lightly on the lips.

"I have a healthy granddaughter," my dad says proudly as I find it hard not to laugh.

"What happened? I remember exiting the jurors' room, but then everything gets blurry and fuzzy," I honestly say as I see Logan look toward my dad as if he didn't want me to know.

"What happened to you was in no way your fault?" Logan begins as I find myself getting anxious. "It was a deranged psycho who just decided to take out his issues on you," he continued as I see in my mind's eye Chardo face.

"It was Chardo," I mutter as Logan jerks up to stare at me.

"Yeah, Weevil says he was arrested for fraud charges and had a hearing. He was walking out of one courtroom as you were exiting your area. It happened so fast that the officers had no way of preventing him from shooting you," he says so softly, but I could hear the underlying anger in his voice.

"Weevil talked to you," I say as he gives me a puzzled expression.

"Out of everything I said that is all you heard," he says laughing.

"It's just you and Weevil aren't BFF's or anything so I found it odd," I admit.

"Yeah, well we won't be exchanging friendship bracelets anytime soon if that's what you were wondering. No his grandmother sent some food for everyone," he says as I realize that Lettie knew everything that was going on.

"Our baby," I finally say as he gives me a weak smile.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her yet," he admits looking away.

"Good, please tell me someone is with her," I say thinking about Mac and how she was switched.

"Don't worry about that! Leo is with her," my dad says as I look over at him after forgetting he was in the room. We went on to talk about a few things as I looked up at the clock.

"What day is it?" I ask as Logan gives me a small smile before scooting closer.

"It's the day after Christmas," he says as I nod. "Our daughter was born on Christmas day," he continues as I give him a questioning look.

"I thought I was miscarrying," I say as I knew I got out of court around 6, so that would be six hours later.

"Yeah, you had been rushed into surgery for the bullet wound. The doctors were taking care of that when they were sewing you up, everything was fine. You had been moved to a recovery room been in there a few hours when your alarms went off. They got to work to see what was wrong when the checked on the baby the heart beat was very low and at one point gone. They quickly began a c-section, and well here we are," my dad says as I realize that I almost lost the little girl I was so afraid of having.

"I want to see her," I finally say as Logan excuses himself. I see him return after a few minutes with a nurse and a wheelchair. The nurse explains no sudden movement and I couldn't hold my daughter just yet. She was in a breathing box for the moment to make sure her lungs were formed all the way.

I was nervous the whole way to the NICU. I could tell that Logan was just as nervous if not even more than I was, but he was doing great with keeping it from me. As the nurse brought me closer to my daughter I prayed I wouldn't hurt her like my mother had hurt me. When the view window came into view I could see Leo standing near out little girls' bed.

"Mrs. Echolls," the nurse says softly as I inch closer to her. She was so tiny, but looked healthy.

"God, she's just as beautiful as you," I heard Logan say softly holding my hand firmly in his.

"I can't wait to hold her in my arms," I admit as he turns to look down at me as he kisses me softly on the forehead.

"We created a beautiful little baby, who is half you and half me," he says as I just laugh.

"We better pray she hasn't received our bad traits," I say as he laughs. I look from him to our little girl.

"We haven't named her yet," Logan says as I look at her carefully before answering him.

"Yes, we have," I say.

"No, PI names Veronica," he says as I just shake my head.

"No, she is more important than a PI name. Her name is Gracelynn Wyatt Echolls," I say as I can tell that the name was perfect.

"It's perfect," he says as I give his hand a squeeze as we look at our little daughter Gracelynn sleeping with Leo watching over her for us.


	14. Chapter 14

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured  
Chapter 14: Family Affairs 

**Aaron**

It has been two excoriating weeks since I heard the blurb about Logan being in an altercation with a gun man in the courthouse. I am still struggling with why the hell he was there in the first place. No one in this damn hell will give me anything, because the bastards are keeping it tight lipped. It boils my blood knowing that Keith Mars actually has stepped up in my place, he pisses me off. Does he not know who the hell I am? 

"Echoll's you've got a visitor," one of the jerks who keeps me locked in all day long snips toward me as he opens the cell door. He places the damn cuffs around my hands like I am some common criminal, and shoves me forward. I follow him to the visitors' area where I see my lawyer sitting behind one of the tables. 

"Did you find anything out?" I snap as I sit down across from the overpriced harlot. 

"Not much, he seems to be fine. I learned from a source at the hospital that Veronica was shot at the courthouse. I don't know all the details since Keith seems to be keeping it quiet," he says as I just look over at the joker pissed that he was wasting my time. 

"I'm paying you $500 an hour and you haven't given me crap," I snarl at him as he looks away from me. It seemed like he was hiding something from me. "What the hell are you hiding," I snap as he opens his case up to hand me some papers. 

"It seems that your assessts have been frozen," he mutters. I was looking over the papers he handed me and found it odd that the accounts were so low. 

"Where is all my fucking money?" I yell as he hands me a few more papers. I guess Logan wasn't as dumb as I thought he was. He was able to find the majority of the hidden accounts in his name as well as the few I hid within the accounts. I hated that I was losing more and more because of the Mars family. I knew deep down that this had Keith Mars written all over it. 

"What would you like me to do about this?" my worthless attorney questions as all I want to do is beat the shit out of my damn son to teach him a lesson about respect and loyalty. 

"I want you to find out where the hell my son is, and why all of this has been kept on the down low! Find out what he is hiding, damn it do your job for once," I snap as the guard comes in to take me back to my cell. 

*****LoVe****** 

**Logan****  
**

I loved watching Veronica sleep because she was so cute. I liked over at the bassinet on my side of the bed at our wide awake baby. Gracelynn was able to come home early this afternoon after spending almost two weeks in the hospital. She had a rough first night, but after that she did fine. 

"Does my little baby girl want something to eat?" I ask softly as I gently pick her up. I look back at Veronica before slipping out of our room and down the stairs to warm up a bottle for her. 

"I bet you're happy to see more than just your little bed," I whisper as we wait for her bottle to heat up. I stare down at my daughter as if she might vanish before my eyes, but I know she isn't going to. I feel like Veronica has been right all this time about me not being like Aaron, but I still feel this struggle not only to protect my family at any costs, but hate the lingering thought that one day I could lose it all.

"Hey, I would have fed her," I hear Veronica say as she pulls me from my thoughts.

"I know, but you were sleeping so soundly. I really thought I could feed her and be back before you woke up," I say as I pull the bottle out of the pan and test it. I reached for Veronica's hand and pulled her with me out the patio doors to a chaise. I sat down passing Gracelynn off to her before pulling her down to lay next to me. She took the bottle from me and started to feed our daughter.

"You just snuck off with her to show her this," I heard Veronica say laughing as I see the first bursts of the sun rising in the distance over the ocean. I knew she understood fully the fact that I wanted to share this beauty with our daughter. I remember the first morning we had Lillian this is what I did. I mean we just brought our little daughter home late the night before, but this was something that all children should be able to have.

"You know, Ronnie all I want to do is make so many memories with our daughter that might erase a lifetime of misery at the hands of my cruel and murderous father," I mutter as she leans closer into me.

"I know, but we have that," she whispers as I look down at our daughter puzzled.

"Have what?" I questioned not understanding fully her comment.

"We have a lifetime. Let's not rush all the memories because if we do it all now, we'll have nothing for the future to bribe her with," Veronica says laughing as I chuckle as well.

"Yes, true," I say with a smile. Of course Veronica would be thinking of the future. She was right though. If I spoiled our daughter now I couldn't hold anything over her head later on.

****LoVe*****

**Aaron**

"Well have you found anything out," I snapped at my lawyer once again. It had been several days since I had seen him.

"No, Keith Mars has got both Logan and his own daughter locked down at their home. I haven't been able to get any details about either one from anyone," the pathetic piece of crap sitting in front of me said. I slammed my fist into the table as the guard looked over at me.

"I don't care what the hell you have got to do, but get to Logan or else," I sneer at him as I reach over to jerk him closer as the guard pulls me back into my seat. "Get your hands off of me," I snap as I jerk my body away from the guard.

"I'm not going to be very nice to you if you can't keep your abusive hands to yourself," the guard snaps shoving me roughly against my chair.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but you have no clue what the hell you're talking about," I yell as my lawyer stands up.

"I'm sure you do. You think just because your face is plastered all over the media you are important, but you're not. In the end people will see the truth," he snaps as I stand up to face the shit who thought he could speak to me like I was some criminal.

"You don't know shit," I snap as I watch a smirk form on his face.

"I know you killed that girl in cold blood. I also know you abused your son for years. Hell if I had to wager it you probably murdered your wife as well. You see Echolls, I see you for the piece of crap that you are. I don't have to bow down to you, but soon very soon you will have to learn your place or you'll become someone's bitch," he says as he laughs at my frightened lawyers face as he drops the papers in his hands.

"Right, well we'll see whose laughing in the end," I say as calmly as I could without a hint of fear in my voice. He jerks my arm as he opens the door to lead me back to my cell. "Find my son," I yell right before the door close and I am shoved forward losing my balance I fall to the ground while I turn to get up the guard kicks me with his shoe shoving me back down.

*****LoVe*****

**Veronica **

"Hey," I mumbled as Logan sat down on the bed.

"Hey back at ya," he says kissing my forehead. I open my eyes to see he was already dressed.

"Where you off to?" I questioned as I move to sit up.

"Papa Mars thinks it's time I head back to school. I know school started a week ago, and Gracelynn has only been home about a week," he says looking toward her little bassinette.

"I know, but it's only for half a day. I think we'll be fine until you get home," I whisper as I look down not excited about this one bit.

"I tried to talk him into one more week, but he just gave me his stern look," he says as I laugh.

"Right, didn't you at least give him the head tilt," I say as I tilt my head to show him my point.

"No, I think that only works for certain blondes," he mumbles into my lips as he kisses me softly before deepening the kiss tracing my lips with his tongue.

"Okay, we better stop before I pull you back to bed," I mutter pulling away as I try to regain my composure. He stands up as I throw back the blankets to get up as well.

"I'll wait downstairs for you. Take your time it's still early," he says as I watch him pick up our daughter and leave the room. It amazed me sometimes how loving he was even when he doubted himself. I quickly brushed my teeth, ran the brush through my hair before slipping a pair of yoga pants and a tank top on. I peeked into the room across from ours where Dick usually slept to find Rosie snuggled up in the bed with Dick. Yeah, she's a killer alright. I picked her up off the bed to let her out.

"I was looking for her," Logan says as I enter the living room where he was huddled up on the couch with Gracelynn in his lap sucking on her bottle.

"I found her in Dick's bed," I muttered as he laughed. I opened the back door and put her in the small dog run area Leo set up for her to keep her from running away.

"How is our little girl this morning?" I asked as I sat down beside of him.

"She's doing well, a clean diaper and a fresh bottle," Logan says smiling as I wrap my arm around his free arm.

"God, you two are so predictable," Wallace mumbles as he drops down on the sofa near the back door.

"Well sure come in and make yourself at home," I mutter as he laughs.

"Hey, I brought doughnuts," he says as I look up from my daughter at the mention of the fresh doughy bread that I had been craving the day before. I looked over at Logan who had a huge smirk on his face.

"I called him to see if he'd pick up some, before he headed over here," he said as if it was a normal thing for him to do.

"Why aren't you riding with Dick or having Leo drive you?" I questioned.

"It seems that Aaron is trying to gather information on me and what happened at the court house. Papa Mars thinks it would be best if I arrived with Wallace to keep the hawks from ambushing me," he mutters as I see his point.

"I didn't know that he was inquiring about you," I mutter as Logan passes our baby to me.

"Yeah, well there has been too much going on to really get into the actual details," he mutters once more before getting up taking the empty bottle with him. I wanted to follow him, but felt if he wanted me to he would have asked me to. I sat looking into my baby's warm brown eye that reminded me of her father so much. My dad says that she looks so much like me when I was her age except for the eyes.

"Wallace my man," I hear Dick say as he enters the space.

"I'll meet you two in a minute. I need to talk with Veronica," Logan says as Wallace and Dick leave the room.

"I wasn't sure about all the details at all. Keith has been doing a great job at keeping things under control, but he did explain to me that it was something that has just been happening. I wouldn't hide something like this from you," he says as I nod my head knowing he wouldn't, but it still didn't help the way I was feeling.

"I know, it's just this isn't about you anymore," I say softly as I feel his hand pulling my chin up to look at him.

"I know that. I wouldn't do anything that would ever hurt you or our daughter. I love you too much to be reckless anymore," he says honestly. I knew he was trying hard, but the issue of Aaron Echolls would always be a sore topic.

"I love you too," I say as I feel his lips on mine brushing against them before he deepens it only to pull away as soon as someone clears their throat.

"I thought you had left already," I hear my dad say as I feel Logan chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm leaving right now," he says kissing my forehead before reaching down for his bag and heading toward the door.

"Thanks dad," I mumble as he sits down beside me.

"I try," he says smirking as I elbow him softly. "How's my star pitcher?" he coos at Gracelynn. My dad stayed with me much of the morning until Meg got up. Then he left the two of us in Leo's hands so that he could do a few errands.

"Hey, how is Logan doing," Meg asks as I put Gracelynn in the playpen set up in the living room. We were able to get one that was big enough for both girls for the time being.

"He's doing well. I mean he is such a natural with Gracelynn that I don't understand what his reservations were about being around her," I say softly as she scoots closer.

"I think he was just worried about hurting her even by accident," she says softly as I nod my head. I knew that Logan had those thoughts but he was nothing like Aaron.

"Has Duncan contacted you anymore?" I asked as she looked up from her book.

"He's tried to call me, but I haven't answered him. I just blocked his number. I don't think I should have to deal with him at the moment," she says as I smile. She was doing better at being a mom than some people would have thought. We spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon talking about school work and watching the babies sleep.

I had just changed Gracelynn when I decided to head upstairs to take a nap. I had been trying to stay awake to see Logan come home, but I was tried. I pulled the bassinet next to my side of the bed as I laid down to just rest my eyes.

****LoVe*****

**Logan**

"Logan," I hear a familiar voice say as I open Wallace's car door. I look toward the voice to see Mac waving her arm.

"Mac," I say smiling as I see the cameras all around the school entry way. I hated the photo hounds for as long as I could remember, but this was just ridicules. I mean why were they hounding me like this.

"How's Veronica and Mac?" she questions as Dick wraps his arms around her waist.

"Their doing well, I know they'd like to see you though," I say laughing as she shoves Dick slightly away.

"I just got home the other night. We had to go see Yosemite," she mumbles as I laugh once more. I envied her a little when she talked about how her family always took different family trips. I would have killed to have Aaron take me on a trip that didn't involve the media following us every step of the way.

"Wow, you have it so rough," I joke with her as she laughs before heading the other direction toward where a few kids were standing. I walked into the school with Dick and Wallace flanking me. I went right to my locker only to stop at the news clipping that some jerk thought would piss me off. They were articles about my mother's death, Veronica leaving me and the favorite was how Aaron was dying. The last one I was hoping was true, but it was all fiction based on lies.

My morning seemed to drag on from one class to the next. I hated having to be in the rooms with all the fake people who were trying to get information on what I had been doing and where Veronica was at. I walked into Journalism class only to see Duncan turn away from me as I sat down next to him. The class even dragged on. I was thankful when lunch came because I decided to head home instead of waiting around for my last class. There was only one place I wanted to be at the moment and it wasn't hanging around fake people.

I walked out toward the parking lot when I felt someone shove me from behind. I turned to ask what the hell was going on when I car came out of nowhere and I was being shoved into the back of it. I looked up to see an older man before I was hit over the head knocking me out.

***LoVe***


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I don't do this often but I got a request to post from Suzanne Wolfe as a birthday gift, so hopefully I get this out for her. It's short but we know who is behind the kidnap, but will Logan be alright.

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 15: Mixed Messages

**Veronica**

I opened my eyes to see it was almost dark outside before looking over at the night stand alarm clock. It was 6:25, I would have thought Logan would of woke me up once he came in, but maybe he thought I needed the sleep. I turned to see if Gracelynn was in her bed, but she was gone as well. I ran my hands through my hair as I got up. I could faintly hear mumbled voices that sounded like they were downstairs, so I opened my door and headed for the stairs when Dick scared me as I came face to face with his solid body. He had Gracelynn in his arms.

"Ronnie, I think you should hang out here for a little while longer," he says as he quickly looks over his shoulder as I see Meg coming up behind him. I was beginning to freak out.

"Why are you standing in my way?" I snap angrily as I see Meg look over the railing on the stairs toward the first floor. I then hear voices hushing each other as I see Meg look back at me. "Logan, your baboon of a friend is pressing the issue of friends with me," I yell out as I feel all the hairs on my neck stand up as Dick moves from one foot to the other offering up Gracelynn to me.

"Maybe you should have her," he says as he hands her over to me. I look down at her and she smiled up as I moved around Dick to where Meg was standing. The scene when I got down the stairs was crazy to say the least. My dad was at the center of the whole thing barking out orders to several plained clothes men as well as a few Deputies.

"What is going on?" I questioned as I see everyone turn to look in my direction.

"Jeff you take your guys and head out, keep me posted," my dad says as the Deputies leave taking several of the men with them. "Honey, maybe you should have a seat," he says as he turns to look at me. I look around trying to find Logan when I finally realize that he wasn't anywhere.

"Dad, where's Logan?" I questioned frantically as I begin to realize this was all about him. "Please, tell me this is a joke," I cry as I see Dick trying to look anywhere but at me.

"I'm sorry, Logan was headed to his car when he was snatched in the parking lot," he finally says as I collapse onto the sofa before I fell down.

"Where was Leo?" I cried out as Dick moved to sit beside me.

"He was right behind, but he took a hit to the head. We were lucky though the media caught the whole kidnapping on tape. We have been working on it the whole afternoon," my dad says as I lean into Dick not on purpose, but I needed support.

I half listened over the next hour or so as Leo and my dad talked about who might be behind the kidnap as Mac, Wallace, Meg, and Dick sat with me vaguely watching the TV as a special report came on.

"_Hi this is Suzanne Wolfe live in Neptune California where 17 year old Logan Echolls was seen being abducted from Neptune High's school campus parking lot earlier today. Mr. Echolls was seen being pushed into the back of a black SUV by an older man. Mr. Echolls is the son of the late Actress Lynn Echolls and Action Star Aaron Echolls who is currently in jail for murder of Lilly Kane the daughter of Billionaire Jake Kane. The Sheriff's department has directed all questions to the former Sheriff Keith Mars who was given custody of the teenager when his mother died. We have reached out to Mr. Mars, but he has declined all comments. We just hope Logan Echolls is found alive soon. Again this is Suzanne Wolf live in front of Neptune High. When we get any news on Logan Echolls we bring it to you." _

I then watch the whole scene of his abduction take place just like it was described. A man came out of nowhere while the SUV stopped in front of him blocking his path. Logan had nowhere to go as the man shoved him into the back of the SUV. It killed me to watch the man I have come to love being taken from me. It made me fill like Lilly all over again. I just prayed that Gracelynn would have her daddy back real soon.

***LoVe****

**Logan**

I felt pain running through my left leg as I tried to sit up. The last thing I remember was walking out of the school heading toward my car to go home to Veronica. My thoughts were very fuzzy as I closed my eyes to think. I vaguely remember a man coming up behind me and shoving me. I was taken or kidnapped. I tried to reach into my pocket looking for my cell phone, but my hands were tied together in an awkward position.

"What the hell are we going to do with the damn Echolls kid?" I heard a man say as I felt the wall behind me move.

"I don't pay your sorry ass to think. I wanted the damn kid for an insurance policy. His old man is trying to screw me over. The kid is to keep him from growing a pair of balls," another man yelled as I felt dizzy. I couldn't believe this was something that concerned me, but once again Aaron has found a way to destroy my happiness.

"Well what about a ransom and then releasing the kid in the desert or something. I heard he is loaded," the first guy says while a groan can be heard from him as if he was punched once again.

"I don't want any fucking ransom. Aaron Echolls helped sell my drugs. He provided his wife with plenty of them to keep her high as a kite, well that was until she took a flying leap off the Coronado Bridge. No I want the damn man to think that he's lost his son, then hit him where it hurts in the check book," the second guy sneers as the door flies open.

"Well look who decided to wake up," another man says as he enters the tiny space. "I was beginning to think we gave you too much, but I guess you are like your mom," he sneers at me as I wiggle to sit up.

"You know nothing about my mom," I yell as the man looks at his two friends and laughs.

"I know plenty about your druggie mother. Your father feed her my drugs for years. It was sad to lose the business, but not as sad as it was when Aaron was arrested. Do you know what happens when one of your biggest sellers ends up in the slammer?" he yells toward me.

"If you have problems with Aaron take it up with him. I have nothing to do with this crap," I yell as the man kicks me in the stomach.

"You're wrong; it has everything to do with you. I heard you were there when your father was arrested, even part of it," he says as I look anywhere but at him.

"He tried to hurt my family. He murdered my ex-girlfriend," I yelled as I got another kick to the stomach.

"Then I guess I should blame you for my loss in business. Danny tie him up. I think he needs a lesson in manners," the main guy gleefully says as I struggle when I am being picked up. The Danny guy undoes my hands just enough to tie each wrist to a pole. I see the main speaker take out a cigarette and light it.

"What do you want me to do now Liam?" Danny says as I see the guy look down at me. He doesn't say anything but moves closer to me as he rips my shirt down the middle. He takes a puff of his cigarette and then blows the smoke in my face.

"You think you're a big man!" he says as he sticks the cigarette took my chest searing the flesh as I hold still due to the years of torture I endured from Aaron. He did it three more times in separate places. I felt like my skin was on fire. I heard a phone ring in the distance.

"Liam it's for you," a girl says as she comes into the room. I knew her from somewhere. When she eyes me I could see the surprise in her expression.

"Molly get the hell out of here," Liam yells as he snatches the phone out of her hand. "This better be important," he sneers into the phone. He punches me in the stomach when I guess the person didn't say something he liked.

"Would you like me to take over boss?" Danny says as I see Liam turn around with a wicked smile on his face.

"I have your boy here," Liam says as I look up from the ground. Liam was talking to Aaron. How the hell did I get mixed up in this since it had to do with Aaron?

"Liam leave my son alone," I hear Aaron's voice snap through the speaker of the phone in his hand.

"Well your son became involved when your money stopped coming in. I am a business man, and if you can't sell for me still then I have to find other ways to get my money," Liam says as he nods his head to Danny who then in turn gives me several quick punches to the sides and stomach area.

"It's you, damn it Liam let Logan go," Aaron yells as I flinch when the next blow comes to my face.

"I wouldn't make any rash comments, your poor son will suffer far more pain if you do," Liam cackles as I take in a sharp breath. I was feeling light headed from the blows that Danny was giving me.

"Liam there has to be something that I can do to help you out. Just let Logan go and we can work out all the details," Aaron was still talking as I felt the final blow to the head. My eyes were heavy and getting heavier by the minute. I could vaguely hear the mumbling voices and I began to drift away from it all. My last thought before I felt darkness creep through me was that I loved Veronica and our daughter. I felt awful for not being the man they needed me to be. Then it was all over.


	16. Chapter 16

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 16: Rescued Worries

**Molly****  
**

I was livid about the crap my uncle seemed to bring home, but Logan Echolls had to take the cake by a landslide. I knew that Liam and his guys hurt people, but my concern was what did Logan do to him. It had to be more connected to his dad than him. I knew Aaron Echoll's bought drugs from Liam, but it had been a while since he'd been near the bar. I kinda thought it was due to him actually being in jail.

I waited until the guys left to go back into the room. I held back a scream when I saw how badly beaten Logan was. The first thing I did was feel for a pulse because he looked dead to me it was there, but barely.

"Logan, you need to open your eyes," I mumble as I shake him carefully. I got nothing from him. I didn't want to do anything that might hurt him more, but I also knew this wasn't his fault. I had seen how much he'd changed since his mom died. He was also linked to Veronica Mars and she scared the crap out of me.

"Molly what the hell are you doing in here," my cousin Patrick snaps grabbing me roughly. "No, this isn't the Echolls kid is it," he snaps once more.

"Liam and his buddies beat the crap out of him. Patrick he isn't going to live if he doesn't get medical attention soon," I say as I try to keep my voice low. I watched as Patrick looked him over. I could see he had been roughed up more than he needed to be. This wasn't Liam's usual, no this was a message.

"Yeah, I know," he says as I move closer to Logan to look him over. The obvious was the black and blue bruises on his face, and the scattered cigarette burns on his chest. He was matted with blood that was pretty dry near a few stab wounds that looked worse than they were. Liam didn't just rough him up a little; no he was sending someone a message by the way Logan was beaten. This wasn't just a little power struggle. This was the big time and somehow an innocent had been caught in the crosshairs.

"Patrick what are we going to do," I whisper as he puts a hand over my mouth. I see a flicker of light seep into the room as the door opens.

"Are you in here?" Aiden whispers as he moves into the room.

"Good your here, help me with this kid," Patrick mutters as I watch the two of them untie Logan from the wall. "Molly go watch for our Uncles," he continues as the two of them move out of the room holding firmly to Logan as he sways from side to side. I felt bad for him. I followed them out to one of the beat up cars that Liam and his lackeys used to dump bodies. I got into the back seat where they placed Logan.

"Molly," Aiden yells as I yelp when the car comes to a stop near the beach. This was there big plan, to dump his body.

"Patrick, he needs a hospital," I snap as Aiden grabs my arm roughly.

"I called it in. This is Dog Beach, someone will be by shortly. We need to get back before Liam wakes and looks for Moneybags," he mutters as we drive back to the Pub.

***LoVe***

**Keith**

"I don't care what you have to do, find out who the hell he called," I snap into the phone as I look over to where Veronica was sitting. Her eyes were solely on Gracelynn right now, but I knew she was fully listening to what we were doing.

"Keith, a call came in about a guy beaten on the beach," Leo comes rushing into the house.

"How long ago?" I question.

"10 minutes tops," he says as I nod my head and gather up a few things.

"Dad," Veronica says as I am about to get to the door.

"Can you stay here?" I ask hoping she'll stay, but knowing my daughter I knew what she was about to do.

"No, if it's Logan I need to be there," she says as I watch her pass Gracelynn to Mac. Dick gets up from his spot and follows closely behind us. The ride to the hospital was a silent one. I would look into the rear view mirror several times to check on the teens in the back, but nothing. It was as if they weren't even there.

I pulled into a parking spot near the middle of the parking lot, carefully looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching us as I led my daughter and Dick into the ER.

"Mr. Mars," a nurse says looking over the counter at us.

"Was it Logan?" I question as she moves her fingers gracefully over the keyboard.

"They aren't sure. There wasn't any identification, only a phone and it was pretty smashed," she replies as she passes me a note with a room number. I move to the elevator and punch in the floor.

"Keith Mars," Don Lamb sneers at me before I have even gotten out of the elevator.

"Lamb," I mutter as he goes to block me.

"This is official police business," he snaps as I feel Dick coming up close beside me.

"Right, but if it is my son you better pray I don't learn you could have preventing this," I say as coolly as I could trying to stay level headed for not only my benefit, but Veronica's as well.

"No ID, phone is smashed. Not sure who the kid is," he smirks at me as I shove past him. I knew in my gut that it was Logan. I walked into the small room only to have my assumptions validated.

"Oh my god," I hear Veronica say as she pushes past me to where Logan lay badly beaten.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

It hurt to see Logan lying so still in the hospital bed. He was so badly beaten that his face was slightly swollen, but even with that you could clearly see it was him. I was mortified when the doctor told us about his injuries. It killed me to know someone took pleasure in almost killing him. He had even been burned with cigarettes, stabbed three times and had four broken ribs. There were other things as well, but I didn't want to think about them. Right now I wanted to focus on Logan and him getting better.

"Hey, V, how is Logan today," Wallace asks as he enters the hospital room that has become a makeshift hangout for us. I have faithfully been in it since he was moved to it from the ICU a week ago. I was wondered about him not waking up, but the doctors said with the intensive injuries he sustained it could take him some time to wake up.

"Same as yesterday, the doctor though came in and says he seems to have some reflexes," I say as he sits down in one of the chairs near the window.

"How's school?" I question as he laughs.

"Girl you should hear some of the rumors going around," he jokes as I hear a soft laugh from behind me.

"Wallace, what did we say about gossiping," Mac questions with a smile on her face.

"Oh really," I mutter as Dick follows her into the space.

"Ronnie," he says picking up Gracelynn from me as he moves toward the sofa to sit down. He had stepped up with being the godfather. I was at first unsure about letting him hold my daughter, but the first night that Logan was stuck here and I was home she was crying and I was fast asleep. He had woken up changed her, fed her and then got her back to sleep. I wouldn't have known it if I hadn't found the two of them asleep in the rocking chair in my bedroom.

We spend the afternoon talking about school and life in general. They tell me a few of the rumors going around about Logan being murdered, to being strung up by the PCHers. Mac helped me with my math homework since I had missed a few class sessions. They all said goodbye and headed out by 6. I would have an hour before my dad would come back to get me. I moved closer to Logan holding Gracelynn in my arms while she slept.

"Logan, you need to wake up. I can't do this all by myself. I need you, just as much as our little girl needs her father. I wish I knew what happened to you," I say softly as I lay my head down holding his hand in mine.

"Where am I?" I hear whispering as I look up to see Logan's eyes on me.

"You're in the hospital," I say kissing his lips hard.

"Why are you here?" he questions as I look back at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?" I ask as he looks back up at me.

"Veronica, what are you doing here," he says saying each of the words individually as if testing them out.

"I'm here because…" I stop as I see him looking past me. I turn to see my dad was behind me.

"Veronica, sweetheart," he says as he comes closer to us. "Logan, you have had us worried," he says as I watch Logan squint his eyes together as if things didn't make sense to him.

"You don't remember do you," I questioned as Logan looked back my way. "You don't remember we're married and this is our daughter," I cry out slumping down into the chair clinging to my only lifeline to my Logan for the time being.

"I'm sorry, no I don't," he says softly as I cry a little more. "Is my dad going to be here soon," he asks as I see my dad shuffle his feet.

"No, son Aaron is in jail right now. Can you close your eyes and tell me what you do remember Logan?" he asks as I stand up to walk to the window.

"I remember my mom jumping off the Coronado Bridge. Veronica found out about my…" he stops as I see him look my way.

"Is that all," my dad asks as I turn to watch Logan fully. I could tell he was nervous because he was pulling at the sleeves of his gown. That was a bad habit of his.

"Veronica stood up to my dad, a bus crash, Veronica having our baby. God, my head hurts," he mutters clutching the side of his head.

"Dad," I say as he holds up a hand to me.

"I just had a memory rush, man that hurt," Logan mutters as he looks toward me once again. "V, come here," he says honestly holding his hand out to me. I climbed into the bed being very careful of the wires attached to him as I let him hold me.

"Never do that," I muttered as I felt his hand wipe at the tears on my face.

"I really didn't do it. I don't remember anything about why I am here, but after Keith asked me about what I remembered all these memories folded my head. I don't know how I could live with myself if I ever forgot about you, you are my whole life," he says kissing my forehead as I finally allowed myself to get some rest. I was finally home.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

"Hey, how are you?" I hear a voice of a past friend as I open my eyes to see Duncan Kane standing in front of me.

"Just peachy," I muttered trying to keep from moving too much because my chest still hurt like hell. Veronica had just left for the day. It amazed me still that even after a week she was still my biggest supporter.

"I thought I should come and check on you," he says as he looks down at the floor.

"Duncan, just spit it out. You were never one to beat around the bush. Tell me why you're here," I say as I pull myself you to a sitting position instead of lying down.

"I honestly came to see how you were. I just got back into town. I left after Meg had the baby and spent some time with my parents," he says sitting down in the chair in front of me finally.

"How is the Ice Queen?" I question as I see my door open up and Veronica carefully enter the room as quietly as she could. Duncan never heard her.

"She's pissed that I screwed up my life. I came back to do the right thing. I need to be the person Lilly would want me to be, not the man my parents are pushing me to be.

"So you're here for Meg not Veronica," I counter as I see him look up at me.

"I won't lie to you. I always will love Veronica, but she was right about me needing to move one. She is good for you. You've grown up. I want to be a better person. I want to show her I am worthy of her friendship. I need friends now more than ever," he says softly as I see Veronica wearily motioning to me. I shake my head as she ducks into the bathroom once more.

"I'm not better because of Veronica, but the people who I hang out with. I finally can say I belong somewhere. I was barely living before she walked into my life. I don't want you to get me wrong I loved Lilly more than she could have understood, but what I have with Veronica it's different on so many levels. We just understand each other more than anything else," I say as I give her a small smile.

"I totally understand that. I stayed away for the last few weeks detoxing of all the meds my mother had me on. I wanted to be able to be real with myself and I knew I couldn't do that if I was medicated," he says as I understood what he was saying.

"I won't say that it'll be easy, but I'm glad to have you back," I finally say as he laughs. We spend the next 20 minutes just talking about old times and how dumb we were.

"I should hit the road," he finally says as I look up to see Veronica duck out of the room quickly.

"Where are you staying?" I questioned as he shrugs his shoulders.

"I was invited to stay at Beavers, but I don't want to fall back into my old habits. I have a room at the Grand," he says as I nod my head and he exits the room. I was now going to wait until my tiny blonde snuck back into the room. I lowered myself back to lie on my back looking up at the ceiling. I hated that I wasn't able to remember where I was taken or what happened to me. I wished that I knew who put me here.

"Penny for your thoughts," Veronica whispers as she moves closer to me.

"I was just thinking," I say as she nods her head. "Where did you take off to," I question as she smiles holding out a can of S'kist to me. I had to laugh at her favorite drink.

"I also thought that you might want to talk with Duncan alone. I didn't want to be eavesdropping the whole time, but I didn't want to make noise either," she says as I laugh. She has come a long way from her meddlesome ways.

"So what were you doing if you weren't listening to the conversation?" I question as she pulls her phone out of her pocket. The screen was up to a video.

"I was watching class from the other day to help catch me up. I have missed so many classes that I need to study when I can," she laughs.

"I thought you went home," I say as she moves onto the bed lying down beside me.

"I was going to but then Meg told me they had things taken care of at home, so I thought I would come back to see if you wanted company. I saw Duncan come in, but waited until I was sure he'd have his back to the door before entering," she smirks as I kiss the tip of her nose.

***LoVe****

"Ronnie, where's Logan this morning," I vaguely hear Dick say as he must have entered our room. I had been home for about a month and he seemed closer to Veronica now more than ever.

"I think he is in the bathroom, why," I hear her ask.

"I was hoping to steal him away to surf," Dick replies as I wipe Gracelynn clean. I was giving her a mini bath in the sink since she had a very gross diaper and I lost the paper, rock, scissors toss up with Veronica.

"Hey Dick," I say as I wrap Gracelynn in a towel and enter the bedroom.

"Logan man what's that smell," he mutters swiping at his nose.

"Its baby poop," I mutter as Veronica cracks up taking our daughter from me putting a diaper on her while pulling a sundress over her head. She fixed a ribbon in her hair as I hand her the bottle I had premade before the diaper disaster. She then shoos me out of the room. I go out with Dick and watch him as he surfs. I just wasn't up to it at the moment. I had been cleared to do most things a week or so ago, but I was still wary about the new scars on my body.

"Hey," Veronica says as she sits down beside me in the sand.

"It's beautiful out here," I reply as she snuggles into my side.

"Yeah, I still remember the first sunrise we shared with Gracelynn. It was the perfect morning. Do you want to talk about it," she whispers as I let out a breath. I had been trying to stay afloat through everything, but I seemed to be sinking at the same time.

"I just don't know why someone would do what they did to me," I mutter digging my fists into the sand.

"Logan whatever happened to you wasn't your fault. The people who kidnapped you and then beat you are the ones who is at fault," she says as I see Dick riding a wave up to the shore.

"Don't you think I know that!" I exclaim a little louder than I should have which made her flinch away from me. "Veronica, I'm sorry. It's just killing me not knowing what happened or why," I say as I see Dick stopping to talk to someone on the beach down from us.

"I know what that feels like. The morning after Shelly's party killed something inside of me when I found out I had been raped. I didn't remember anything about what happened or how I ended up in the room," she cries as I pull her into my arms.

"I know, I am just worried that what happened to me isn't the end of it," I finally say out loud the thought I had been having for some time now.

"Have you talked to dad about this worry of yours?" she questions.

"No," I honestly say.

"Why not?" she counters as I laugh.

"I don't want him to worry more than he already does. I am a little worried that he might try to put me into that plastic bubble he always talks about for you," I say as I brush some fallen hair out of her face.

"I don't think that's funny at all," she mutters swatting my hand away.

"Awe come on," I whine as she moves to get up but I pull her back down in the sand.

"Logan," she says as I begin to tickle her.

"Stop you're not playing fair," she is whining as I tickle her even more.

"Wow, low blow there Echolls," I hear as I turn around to see Duncan standing above us. "I was down the beach with some people when Dick wandered over. I knew he came from this way so I came out looking for you Logan hoping you were out, but didn't think I would run into Veronica as well," he says smiling.

"Yeah, well Logan thinks it's a great idea to put me in a plastic bubble for safe keeping," she huffs wiggingly out of my grasp. "I'm going to go in," she says as I take her hand.

"You don't have to leave on my account. I wasn't trying to bother you guys. I just thought maybe we could talk or hang out," he says timidly.

"I was only going to go warn Meg," Veronica says softly. Meg still wasn't willing to be alone with Duncan yet. To tell the truth I wouldn't let her be alone with him.

"Oh, yeah," he says as she runs ahead of us to the porch slipping inside.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I looked behind myself as I entered the back door hoping that Logan would keep Duncan outside for a few more minutes. I saw Meg with baby Lilly in her arms as I entered the kitchen.

"Meg," I say a little out of breath as she just shakes her head.

"Too much a lone time with Logan," she asks rising an eyebrow at me.

"No, Duncan is outside with him," I say as I watch her playful mood evaporate. "I came in to warn you," I manage to say as she gathers up Lilly and her bottle.

"I'm not in the mood for him. I think I'll head upstairs," she says as she excuses herself while my dad emerges from the security room.

"Wow, daughter of mine. Did you say something to Meg that upset her?" he questions as I half choke on the water I had just sipped on.

"No, Duncan's out back," I mutter as I see him look past me. I turn to watch Dick coming up in front of the guys splashing Mac with water off his shirt. Wallace was following behind the group with his mom.

"I thought you were going to bring Daryl with you," my dad asks as Alicia comes into the area.

"I was but he wanted to hang out with his friends instead of slumming it on the beach," she sasses as he bends down and gives her a peck on the cheek. "I knew you had a houseful, but I don't understand how you keep them all in line," she laughs as I move toward the stairs. I knew Gracelynn was probably up there sleeping since that's where my dad was just at.

"Are you looking for this little one?" Meg says as she steps out of the spare bedroom next to Dick's. I take my little girl in my arms and give her a kiss to the nose.

"Yeah, I was just coming to check on her," I admit as she gives me a tight smile. "Meg, I know that things have been going great here, but do you ever wonder what it would have been like without all the drama," I ask as she sits down beside me as we enter the alcove.

"I think about it all the time, but we can't change the past. I am thankful for your dad stepping up to help me in my time. He got me away from my parents and my daughter is safe because of you," she says smiling as Gracelynn begins to suck on my finger.

"I totally know what you mean," I reply as I see Logan coming up the stairs.

"Hey," he says as he motions with his hands toward the baby. "I was checking up on her, but I guess you two have it totally under control," he says as he slouches down on the top step of the stairs.

"Yeah," I thought I should check on her, but Meg had her," I say moving closer to him. He takes our daughter out of my arms nuzzling her into his shoulder as he hums to her.

"I guess you came up here to kidnap my security blanket," I mutter as he laughs at me. He passes her back to me as he stands up and kisses the top of my head as he moves back down the stairs.

"You know you and Logan have a great relationship that is really amazing to watch. He just seems to know exactly what you need without you ever having to ask him or tell him. I wish that I had that kind of love or even a relationship," Meg says as she gets up and walks away from me. I was left sitting all alone as I listened to the sounds of my friends' downstairs talk and laugh. I am about to get up to head downstairs when Gracelynn decides to give me a surprise.

"Oh you think you are so funny little missy," I joke with her as I go into my bedroom to clean her up. I have her all cleaned and changed when I go to turn around I see Dick in the doorway of my room.

"I was just wondering how you guys were since you've been up here for some time now," he says motioning to Gracelynn.

"I think your Godfather is missing you," I say softly to her as Dick looks to the ground. He was thankful that we had chosen him as her Godfather, but I knew Logan would want him to be so I gave in. Dick kinda grew on me from the amount of time he has spent at our house.

"Yeah, I do. So stop hogging the baby and pass her along," he jokes as I look from him to my daughter. I pass her over to him as he sits down on the bed. "You might want to change your dress you have something on it," he says as I look down to see some poop on it. I quickly go into the closet and slip it off and pull on another sundress. I spray some cleaner on the spot and toss it in the dirty clothes hamper.

"Come on, I think Logan will be suspicious if you and I are up here any longer," I say as he passes Gracelynn back to me.

"Naw, Ronnie he is totally okay with this romance," Dick says as I nudge him with my arm.

"Right, I am dying to hear Logan tell me that," I say as we walk into the living room.

"What do you want to hear me say?" Logan questions with a grin on his face as I move closer to him by passing the look Duncan was giving me.

"Dick says your find with our romance," I say as I pass the baby to Logan who takes her in his arms as if it were nothing at all.

"Is that?" Duncan starts but then stops as I realize that this little exchange has been kept from the world.

"No, it's not your baby," I say softly as he looks from me to Logan. "She's our baby," I reply as he gets up and walks out of the room. I looked over at the worried expressions of our friends then back to Logan.

"That went better than I thought it would," Logan says breaking the silence. I looked at him as if he was crazy but he just shrugged his shoulders and went back to making faces at our daughter. After awhile we realized Duncan wasn't coming back so we all went on about our afternoon. Dick ordered food and Meg came back down to enjoy a few shows before we all called it a night.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Logan questions me as I slip into bed.

"I just keep thinking if we handled Duncan the way we should have. I never thought about not bringing Gracelynn down. I don't want him to be angry with us again. It took him forever to man up, but I am a little worried of what he might do," I say as Logan draws circles on my arm.

"I don't want you thinking about all that. We will handle whatever happens as a family," he replies as I feel him pull me closer. "It will be you, me, Dick, Meg, Wallace, Mac and dad against the world," he says as I laugh.

"Do you know if someone told me a year ago we would be here right now like this I would have beat them up, but this is so normal for me," I say as he nods his head into my hair.

"I agree, I think how lucky I am everyday that your dad allowed us to do this. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if it hadn't been for my mom dying, but I'm better. Aaron isn't hurting me, you and Gracelynn are here. Plus Keith has been a great fatherly example for me to see what I should be doing with our daughter. I'll admit, growing up I envied you a little with you picture perfect family, but now I see it was just as broken as mine," he says softly as I realize his words were so very true.

"I know. I thought Duncan and Lilly had such a great life, but look at where it has fallen apart. I even thought you had a great life, but I was so wrong," I say as I turn to face him.

"I love you so much Veronica," he says as he kisses me.

"I love you as well," I reply as I nestle my head into his chest. I hated how he now wore a t-shirt to bed, but he was very wary of his new scars. It killed me to know how hurt he still was, but hoping that together we could overcome whatever it was that happened to him. I fell asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat playing the song of our love.


	17. Chapter 17

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 17

**Duncan**

After leaving Logan's and Veronica's house a couple of days ago I wandered around town. I was livid that my soul mate had procreated with the devil's son. I thought I was over what Logan's dad had done, but I couldn't look at Logan without seeing his father. It scared me thinking that one day he could hurt Veronica.

"Lilly, why did you have to fool around the way you did?" I muttered at the granite headstone where she was buried. I ended up here at the wee hours of the morning drunk as a skunk. I wanted to wring her neck for the way things have turned out.

I don't know why I listened to my mother about Veronica. I broke up with her because I thought she was my sister, but she isn't. I then thought I could get back with her, but no, she's shacking up with my best friend. Damn it why didn't things go my way. No, I might as well be damned.

****LoVe****

"Hey, did you hear Veronica's back," John says as he leans against my Range Rover. I look in the direction of where she use to park, but don't see her car.

"No, I didn't," I mutter as I finally see Veronica getting out of a SUV six cars down from us. Logan was talking with Dick as she got out of the back followed by Meg.

"Oh wow, Meg is with them. I thought she had died," Casey says as he moves forward to head for class. Great, I was going to have one hell of a day.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I saw Duncan as Dick drove by the usual 09ers, but I didn't want to wallow on him. I was sitting behind Logan talking with Meg who decided that she needed to get back to school as well. I would have rather stayed at home, but I came for her support. She was my friend and I wanted to be there for her.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Logan asks as he pulls me close to him.

"I was thinking about life," I say as I tap my lips slowly.

"Right, you were thinking about your bed, all snuggled up warm and cozy," he says as I laugh.

"Stay out of my head, stalker," I joke as he smiles at me.

"Really, it was just a wild guess," he says honestly as I see Clemmons headed our way.

"Veronica my office," he snaps as I see Logan flinch slightly when I let go.

"I'll be okay. I have my pepper spray and taser," I say as I move toward the office unhappy to be separated from Logan.

"Sit down," Clemmons mutters as he takes out something from a file. "I know you have had a rather unexpected accident, and then a baby, but Neptune High does not have a revolving door. I need you to come to school from now until you graduate," he says as I look at him pissed.

"If I'm correct you decided to have me home schooled due to Mr. Echolls. Then I was shot and gave birth so techniquely I didn't decide not to come to school, but couldn't," I snapped as he looks up from his papers.

"Veronica, that may be so, but you haven't fully completed all of the assignments for the past few weeks. I am surprised your grades haven't dropped yet," he says as I fell like crying because he was being an ass.

"Fine, I'll be here every day just to annoy the hell out of you," I snap as I get up and walk out the door without looking back. I got a tardy slip from the secretary and headed for my first period class. The morning went by pretty slowly for me as I now had different classes than the others. I wouldn't have a class with Logan until after lunch and I was itching to hang out with him.

I had my cell phone in my pocket so when I felt it vibrate I quickly pulled it out to see who it was. I had a text message form Logan asking me, 'Do you want Italian for lunch?' I smiled as I quickly typed back, 'yes' as I shoved it back into my pocket as the teacher made his way toward my seat. I was antsy as I put all my books away in my bag waiting for the bell to ring.

"I missed you," Logan says as he pulls me to his side the moment I exit the classroom door.

"I'm sure you did," I smirk back as he kisses my forehead. "I thought you asked about lunch. Where is it?" I question as I notice he didn't have any take out with him.

"Dick is graciously holding it hostage until we get to the quad," he says laughing when I poke him in the arm knowing he was still sore in other parts.

"Ronnie, man I had to beat the vultures away who wanted your food," he mocks as Mac swats his arm taking out her salad.

"It's more like we had to beat him down to stay out of the bags," Meg jokes as I sit down across from her holding my hands out.

"I don't care about your bickering. I smell food," I say as I hear Logan laugh loudly.

"We all know what happens to those who keep this little blonde form her food," he jokes as I pull my cell phone out. I needed to see how Gracelynn was doing.

"Dad, hey," I say as I see Logan look over at me.

"Honey, I don't need you checking up on me," he sasses as I roll my eyes.

"I know, I was just worried about how she was handling her mommy not being home," I say softly as I feel Logan squeeze me from the side.

"Veronica, this isn't my first rodeo. Plus Alicia came over to help out with Lily. The girls will be fine until you guys get home," my dad says as I hang up the phone and wipe a tear from my eye. It was hard being away from my baby. Then in the pit of my stomach I felt sick thinking about how my mom just freely walked out of my life. I couldn't fathom how a mother could ever leave their child.

"You okay," Logan asks as I look over at him.

"Yeah, it's just really hard," I say giving him the best smile I could because looking at him made me think about his mom. How could she leave him?

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I could tell Veronica's mood had quickly changed after she talked with Keith. I wasn't sure if it was whatever he might have said or her just over thinking things. I mean I knew she tended to keep things bottled up, but she had been doing so well lately that I thought she might have been over that little issue in her life.

"Everything alright," I finally ask as we walk toward journalism.

"Yeah, just thinking," she says as I just shake my head knowing what kind of trouble she could get into when she does that.

"About?" I question as she looks up at me.

"I'll tell you mine when you tell me about yours," she says as I just stand there gawking at the fact that she called me on my own issues.

"Nice," I mutter as she just shrugs her shoulders. "Ronnie," I start but she walks off toward Gia something. I watch her as I look toward Duncan to find him watching her as well. I didn't want to start anything but if was ticking me off.

"Hey," I hear Veronica say as I look up from the spread I was working on. "The bell rang," she says motioning to the now empty room.

"Sorry, I was focused on this piece," I say as I scan the spread into the computer and save my work sending a copy to the editor.

"You want to head home," she asks as I look up at her.

"I would wait for you in study hall," I start but she shakes her head.

"I decided to keep the last class as an independent study so that you and I could leave together. I just don't want you having to hang out here just for little ole me," she says smiling as I try to focus just on her.

I could tell by the knowing smirk plastered on Keith's face he knew something like this was going to happen. He handed the baby off to Veronica the moment she dropped her bag beside the sofa. Alicia looked up from where she was sitting holding Lily.

"Did you guys stay long enough to learn something?" she asks softly as I hear Keith chuckle but Veronica groan.

"Yeah, we learned that some of us need to let go of things," I mutter as I head back to the kitchen to grab a drink. I could tell someone followed me but was sure it wasn't Veronica.

"Did something happen?' Keith asks as he sits at the bar.

"Not really, it was just something Veronica said," I say as I sit beside him.

"It must be something big if you brought it home," Keith says looking directly over at me.

"I called Veronica out about her mood change after talking with you, and she called me out on my shit," I say honestly as he fully laughs at me.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Keith smirks as he watches my face fall. "What aren't you telling me Logan?" he questions as I go to get up.

"I'm not sure, but I just don't feel the same way I did before I was taken," I say as I look back toward the living room area. "It's nothing to do with Veronica. It's like I feel like I am not the same person I was before. I'm afraid of the little things," I finally admit.

"Could you elaborate a little?" he asks.

"I guess I am afraid that I could lose all this without any second chance. I just feel like no matter what I do, I'm not enough," I say as I see the pained expression in Keith's eyes.

"Listen to me, we love you; I love you, Veronica loves you, and that little baby loves you, every one of the people who hangs out here does," he says as I nod my head.

"Then why does it seem like everyone I love leaves me. Lilly left me, my mom, she left me," I say as I have a hard time finishing up what I was going to say.

"I'm still here," I hear Veronica say as I feel her arms wrap around me. "No matter what, I'll always be here for you," she continues as she moves to face me pulling my head up to look at her.

"For right now," I say. She shakes her head.

"No not for right now. This isn't a part-time situation to me. You want to know what I was upset about. Well here it is. I was wondering how a mother could just walk away from their child. I was thinking about how my mother walked out on me not once but twice. I then thought about your mom. Logan I realized that my whole life is right here," she says as I look up into her piercing blue eyes to see nothing but love.

"You could have told me that," I say softly pulling her into my lap.

"Well like I said you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine," she mocks.

"You are nothing like your mom," I finally say as she nods her head.

"I know that, that's what hurt me. I had the hardest time leaving Gracelynn. It made me feel upset knowing how easy it was for our moms to leave. I don't want our daughter to ever feel unloved," she says softly as I smile giving her a kiss.

"Boy I'm good," I hear Keith say as he walks back into the kitchen with his granddaughter.

I knew that even though I wasn't fully okay with what happened to me I knew I needed to be there for Veronica and our family. Keith was right I had people who loved and cared for me. I needed to pick myself up and remember that I wasn't that little boy that Aaron Echolls had destroyed. No, I was a father, husband, best-friend and even a son. I could deal with my issues and become the man my mother knew I was capable of being.


	18. Chapter 18

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 18:

**Lynn**

I wasn't going to sit back and watch my son get hurt anymore than he already was. I knew what Keith told me, but I had to do something before my husband's issues got my son killed.

"Ms. Lester, how may we help you," the attendant asks as I make my way to the counter.

"I need a ticket to San Diego, California," I say as I look up at the departures. I pulled out my wallet to pick a credit card to pay for the flight.

"We have a flight leaving in half an hour or another one leaving later tonight," the lady says as I look at my watch.

"I'll the half an hour one. I need to get home," I say as I hand her my card. I had packed only one carry on so I didn't need to check my luggage. I got my boarding pass and went through the screeners. I barely made it to the boarding area as the attendants were calling the final boarders.

I sat down in my first class seat and pulled out some paperwork to work on. I had been writing a book on my experience as Aaron Echolls' wife. I wanted to leave something more for Logan, but I also knew the world needed to see the real man behind the name. It was amazing how refreshed I felt as I stepped off the plane in San Diego. I knew I would get hell from Keith, but right now that didn't matter to me.

I rented a simple SUV and drove toward Neptune. It felt like déjà vu as I saw the entering Neptune sign. I knew I would be okay if I wanted to stop off somewhere because I really didn't look like Lynn Echolls anymore. My hair was a dark mahogany and longer than what it usually looked like, I was more tan than I was before and I know had piercing blue eye thanks to an eye procedure I had done.

As I drove closer to the beach house I had picked out for Logan and Veronica I started to panic. I didn't want to ruin everything the two of them worked hard for, but at the same time I needed to protect my son. Keith wasn't forth coming on everything; he told me about the shooting in December, but not anything else. I heard about my son being kidnapped because it was all over the news, but Keith told me things were fine.

"Ma'am," the guard at the gate says as I pull up to the front of the house. The gate surrounding the house was new. It wasn't here when I bought the house.

"I have come to see Keith Mars," I say as the man pulls a phone out and punches in a number.

"Mr. Mars there is a woman here asking to see you," he says as he looks me over. "Um, no I don't know who she is," he states as I hold out my license for him.

"My name is Laura Lester," I say as he holds a light out to see the ID.

"Her name is Laura Lester," he says as I hear a little yelling from the other end before he hangs up the phone. "Okay, Ms. Lester, you can go in but Mr. Mars wants you to stay in your car until he meets you," the guard says as he handed me back my ID card. I nodded as he moved back into his little house and pushed a button opening the gate.

"Seriously, what the hell are you thinking," Keith snaps at me as I open the door to greet him.

"I needed to be here right now. I couldn't sit back while that monster allowed my son to get hurt," I snapped as he rubbed his temple.

"Laura, this isn't just about you or the kids anymore. There is so much more at stake now," he says as I follow him toward the front door. He opened it and I could faintly hear the sound of a crying baby.

"Keith, I can't get Gracelynn to stop crying," a woman says as we enter the kitchen area. "Oh I didn't know," she says again but stops.

"Alicia this is Laura Lester, she is here to see Logan," Keith says as I look at the little girl in her hands. She seemed familiar.

"Laura this is Logan's daughter," Keith says looking from me to the baby as I felt like my whole world was now spinning.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" I snapped as he has the power to look ashamed. "I mean it Keith this is my life," I say as I see the confused look on Alicia's face.

"What's going on?" the other woman says as I reach for the little girl.

"I'm her grandmother Lynn Echolls," I say as I take my little granddaughter for the first time.

"I thought you were dead," she says softly as I just shake my head. Keith gives her a quick rundown of me faking my death to help protect Logan from his father. I take Gracelynn into the living room and sit down with her. She has quieted down and was looking up at me.

"Where do you plan on staying?" Keith asks as he and Alicia join me with another baby. "This is Meg Manning's little girl Lilly," he says seeing the confused look on my face.

"I planned on getting a room at the Grand," I say.

"No, you need to stay out of the way," he mutters as I look toward Alicia.

"Do you know who Lynn Echolls was?" she nods her head. "Do I look like her?" I questioned as she looks me up and down.

"There is a familiarity between the two of you, but unless I had a photo of the two of you, no," she says as I nod my head. We sat there for I don't know how long, but we all were startled as we heard several car doors slamming shut.

"No, this isn't happening," Keith mutters as I look toward the door.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

I hated Neptune High so much. Ugh! I just wanted the year to be over with already. Logan and I were both seated in the back seat of the Range Rover as Dick and Meg sat in the front talking about some homework assignment they had to do for a class.

"I wonder whose car that is," Dick says as I look out the window at the SUV parked where we usually parked. I got out of the Rover and followed the other to the front door. I had a bad feeling about what we were going to walking into.

"Logan, Veronica come into the living room please," my dad says as we open the door.

"What did you do?" I questions as Logan looks back at me.

"How do we know it was me who did it and not you?" he retorts as I elbow him.

"I'm sure it was both of you," Dick smirks as he was about to move past Alicia, but she held her hand up.

"Meg, here's Lilly. Dick, Keith wants you to go upstairs for the moment. He has something he needs to discuss with just Logan and Veronica," she says as she gives us a sad look before moving to the front door.

I followed Logan into the living room to see a woman holding our daughter in her arms. The only thing I wanted to do was get my daughter from the lady, but I tensed up when Logan did as he saw the woman.

"This is a trick," he mutters as I grab his hand only for him to jerk it away from me. "Why are you here?" he snaps as I stare at the woman. I couldn't figure it out.

"Logan," she says as I realize exactly who she is. Oh my god!

***LoVe***

**Logan**

The moment my eyes met the mystery woman I knew exactly who she was. It couldn't be possible though, she was dead. I buried her. Yet, here she was sitting in our living room holding my daughter.

"Hand me my daughter," I say a little harsher than I should have, but I was pissed off.

"Logan, darling," she starts but I hold my hand up. She moves toward me as she passes my daughter to me I begin to relax. I let out a deep breath.

"Dad," I hear Veronica say as I looked to her. She had stayed right beside me. Keith went into detail how he helped my mother fake her death. She felt she had to do something to protect me from Aaron, but she couldn't leave him. He was too powerful, so she decided faking her death was better for everyone.

"You thought I would be better off without you," I snapped as she flinched slightly.

"I didn't know how else to get you safely away from Aaron," my mother says softly as I feel the urge to hug her, but stand my ground.

"You could have talked to me. God you could have explained what you were planning on doing. Aaron almost killed Veronica, he did kill Lilly," I snap loudly as Gracelynn begins to cry. Veronica reaches for her, but I decline her help.

"Keith wanted me to run with you, but I didn't want you to have to do that," she mutters as I watch her demeanor change.

"Did you ever stop to think this wasn't just about you? I thought I had done something wrong. I felt like I let you down," I say as I move my daughter slightly side to side.

"Can you honestly tell me you would have the family you have now if I didn't do what I did?" she finally questions me as I look from Keith to Veronica. I knew the answer to that, but it still didn't make what she did right.

"We've got homework," Veronica finally says breaking the silence. "This conversation isn't over dad," she says as I finally hand her Gracelynn. She takes my hand and we head upstairs. I wasn't ready for the questions that I knew the others would have for me.

"Hey you guys want to hang put?" Dick asks as I turn to Veronica.

"I think we're going to take a nap. Logan isn't feeling well and Gracelynn needs her rest," she says softly as I follow her into our room. She shuts the door and locks it. We usually don't do that, but I knew from her expression this was for my benefit.

"You could hang with Dick and Meg if you want," I finally say as I watch her place Gracelynn in her bassinet.

"No, this is where I want to be. Plus you, me and our little one is a family. We will handle this as a family," she says as I pull her down on the bed to lie beside me. I just needed to feel close to her.

"This is so messed up," I tell her as I can feel her scratching my head. "I mean why did she come back now," I ask.

"I don't have the answers to those questions, but at least she is still here. Logan your mom is here. She is alive," she says as I sit up at that realization.

"I know but right now I am so upset and disappointed with how she lied and manipulated the situation. I mean I could have handled the secret," I mutter as I feel her sit up as well moving toward the edge of the bed.

"I'll ask you the same question she did. If she hadn't done it the way she did, do you think we would have ended up together," she asks as I look toward her.

"Not like this probably not, we weren't even friends when all the crap hit the fan," I say.

"I'll make it simple for you; as dumb as the situation is we are here right now because she cared enough, no loved you more to walk away. Logan your mom cared more for you and your future than her own to get you out of that house. I am thanking God right now that I learned everything I did because I love you. I can't see my life without you in it," Veronica says as I turn to look at her. I can see the blunt honesty written in her expression.

"I am not happy she lied to me or us," I mutter as she gives me a kiss. "I am going to have to work on being mad at her," I say as I see Veronica nod her head.

"Now that we have discussed this I need food," she says as I look in on Gracelynn who was fast asleep. I reach for the baby monitor and unlock the door. Veronica moves closer to me, but instead of opening the door she tosses her head back and forth a few times. Then pulls my shirt out of my pants and ruffles my hair.

"What was that for?" I question as she shrugs her shoulders.

"Let them think we were having mad sex while they were left in the dark," she says as I see the smile forming on her face.

"You are so hot when you're scheming," I say pulling her close to me as we open the door and make it down the stairs without falling.

"I have learned from the best," she says laughing as we stop in the kitchen where everyone was seated for dinner.

"I'm glad you two could join us," Keith says as he gives me a look.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

Logan was right it was fun and hot scheming. I could scheme all day with him if it meant not having to attend stupid high school. I see Lynn at the table close to Keith as I sit down beside of Logan and Dick.

"Hey, man you didn't tell me you had a Aunt in Europe," Dick says leaning against me toward Logan.

"I didn't know about her. It seems my mom kept a lot of secrets form me," Logan says as I see her eyes look toward him before flickering back to Keith.

"Did you two get all your homework done?" my dad asks as I burst out laughing.

"Dad, we weren't up their doing homework," I say coyly as he eyes me up.

"Logan," he mutters as I squeeze his hand.

"We were just hanging out. After this afternoon we needed to just rest," he says as I give him a smile.

The rest of the dinner was made up of small talk as Logan and I did very little. I caught Lynn watching the two of us several times, but she never addressed either one of us. After dinner Logan and Dick went out to surf while Lynn stayed with Meg and I as we fed and changed the girls. I felt a little uneasy about her, but this was Logan's mom. I had noticed she seemed unsure of herself as well.

When Logan came back from surfing he excused himself and he took Gracelynn up with him. I wanted to head up with him, but he asked me to give him some time. He just needed some time this wasn't the way I wanted m evening to go.

"I think I'm going to head up as well, Lily has an appointment in the morning," Meg says as she picks her daughter up from Dick.

"I'll help you," he says as I see a look pass between the two of them. I knew they were still unsure of what was going on.

"Traitors," I muttered as they left me alone with my dad and Lynn.

"Where have you really been all this time?" I questioned as my dad groans.

"I was in Hawaii with someone," she says as I turn to really look at her. "Your dad made it possible for me to get a new name through the witness protection service. I got on a plane planning on heading to Europe, but I couldn't do it. At the last minute I changed to Hawaii," she says as she twists her napkin in her hand. I've never seen her fidget like this.

"Are you still drinking?" I questioned as she shook her head.

"No, I had to quit," she mutters as I realize she is hiding something.

"Why?" I questioned as she looks to my dad before turning to face me.

"I found out I was pregnant. The doctor told me for the safety of my baby I needed to quit," she says as I hear a gasp behind me. Shit! I think as I turn around to see Logan standing by the stairs just outside of the room. This isn't going to end well for any of us.


	19. Chapter 19

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 19:

**Logan**

"You had a what!" I snap as I move into the room. I was only coming down to get something to drink, and to see what was taking Veronica so long. I never thought I would hear that my mother had another child. She left me to just have another one. Was she trying to replace me? I had a million thoughts running through my mind. I was having a hard time focusing on what was going on around me.

"Logan," I hear Veronica say softly as I felt her hand on mine, but I jerk it away. I didn't want her comfort at the moment. I wanted my anger. I needed it to keep me grounded.

"I mean was I not enough for you. You left me and then had another child. Did I mean so little to you that you had to replace me?" I cried out as I looked up to see my mom had moved from her spot on the sofa to right in front of me.

"You meant more to me than my own life. Logan I hated how I sat by and allowed Aaron to hurt you. I just felt incapable to standing up to him. I saw how he hurt you and I was scared that he would return to doing it to me," I hear her mumble as I look right at her. My mother was crying and she didn't have a glass of Vodka in front of her.

"What do you mean?" I muttered through clenched teeth. I never saw Aaron hurt her.

"I fell in love with Aaron because of how sweet he was, but once I married him it was like living in hell. He pushed me around and abused my body to his liking. He stopped for a while when he found out I was pregnant, but once I had you he returned to his old habits," she says but pauses as I see her wiping at her tears.

"What happened?" Veronica asks as she joined the two of us kneeling on the floor.

"He went back to hitting me and pushing me around. He only did it when I didn't have Logan with me. Then eventually he went to hurting Logan. It started out as little bruises, and then it escalated into rougher punishments. I tried to leave him, but he beat me so bad I had to hide out for several months," she says as I try to think about when that was.

"When was this?" I questioned numbly as she fidgets with her hands.

"It was after the surfing accident where you left your surfboard in the living room. Aaron had taken the belt to you after he shoved you down the stairs. I think you were 10," she says as I remember the incident she was referring to.

"I thought you were on a movie set. You told me you had gone to film that movie in Boston," I say as I think back to all the times she had been missing out of my life. "Why didn't you try harder?" I questioned as I could see she was already on edge.

"I wanted to, but I was so afraid of him. He use to hit on Trina when she was younger, but after awhile he moved onto you. I did what I did to protect you. I would have done it sooner if I could have, but after I tried to leave him the first time he made it harder for me to get money and I knew he had me followed," she says as I reach for Veronica's hand. She had been rubbing circles on my back this whole time.

"You said you had a baby," Veronica asks as I turn to look at her.

"Yeah, she's a darling. She looks just like Logan with her eyes and hair. I had her in August. I was already a little over a month along when I left," she says as I just nod my head.

"Where is she?" I questioned. She looked nervously at me and then over at Keith who seemed to just be observing everything.

"I left her in Hawaii with a friend. She is going to come later this week. I wanted to be sure that it didn't get back to Aaron or his lawyers," she says as she pulls on her purse opening it up. She pulls her wallet out and slips something out of it. She goes to hand it to me, but for some reason I am having a hard time moving my hands. Veronica reaches for it.

"What's her name?" Veronica asks as I see the look at the only photo of a child that I haven't met, but know I would do anything to protect.

"I named her Wyatt Alexis Lester," she says as I smile. Wyatt seemed appropriate for her.

"She's beautiful," I say as I stand up pulling Veronica with me. I look at the clock on the wall to see it was past midnight. "We have school in the morning," I mutter turning to and walking out of the room. Veronica goes into the kitchen and makes a bottle for Gracelynn who probably is ready for a feeding. I head up the stairs just as I see Dick and Meg backing into their rooms.

"Night, you two," Veronica says as she walks pass the two closed doors. I had to laugh of course she would know they were listening in. "Could you grab her?" she asks as I walk to the bassinet and pick up the squirming baby who was laughing as I kissed her nose.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

As Logan and I finally climbed into our bed for the night I decided to see how he was. "Are you okay?" I asked as Logan handed me the baby. He looked down at me and then kissed the top of our daughters head before lying down beside me.

"I keep thinking I should be vividly ticked off with her, but then if none of this ever happened you wouldn't be right here with me nor her," he says as he lays his hand gently on our daughters feet. I knew he was right, but I also knew we couldn't live our lives with what if's. I wasn't going to let Logan think twice about the life we had together because I wouldn't trade it in for all the money in the bank. I loved Logan more than anything else.

"No we wouldn't," I softly say as he lays his head in my lap and takes our daughter from me. I already finished feeding her. Rosie jumped up on the bed and snuggled into my side as Logan gently burped our daughter. I knew we would have a long road ahead of us with the new entrance of Laura and soon Wyatt, but I just felt like we had been through so much this little glitch wasn't going to get us down at all.

It's been several weeks since Logan's mom and sister came back into our life. Logan has had several mini break downs, but nothing that cuddling and talking couldn't fix. I hated today more than anything in the world. I was already on edge and it didn't help me that Logan was making me run late. "Hey, let's go or we are going to be late," I yell upstairs as I walk back into the kitchen where Mrs. Navarro was feeding Wyatt in her high chair. Lilly was in her play pen and Gracelynn was fast asleep in her grandfathers arms.

"Veronica, honey you'll get to school on time," my dad says as I give my baby girl a kiss on the forehead.

"Not if her daddy keeps on making me late," I mutter as Logan walks into the kitchen grabbing a breakfast sandwich as he moves to where I was standing.

"Hey," he says smirking as I nudge him in the side.

"Why can't you ever get up on time?" I mutter as I look once more at the clock to see it was a different time.

"I get up at the same time every day. I changed the clock in our room to give me another half hour," he says smirking at me as I totally smack him in the arm.

"Whoa! I see Iron Mike is back," Dick says as he enters the kitchen area. "What was all the yelling this morning?" he asks as I glare at Logan again.

"Just Veronica giving us a wakeup call," Meg says laughing as she walks into the kitchen from the laundry room.

"Right, you can all laugh it up right now. I just think we should be at school at a reasonable time," I mutter as I feel Logan's arms wrap around me.

"Hey, we're all nervous. I know today is a big day, but let's just stay calm," he says softly as I nod my head. A lot had happened since Laura and Wyatt entered our lives. It was time for the trial of the century. This afternoon was the beginning of the Aaron Echolls trial of murder and attempted murder. Not only did I have to worry about that, but finals were just a week or so away as well.

"I know, but I am nervous as heck with everything going on as it is. I don't think I could handle something going wrong," I say as we move toward the Range Rover. We made it to school with no incident, but getting into the parking lot was proving much harder than we thought. The paparazzi were everywhere. I could see Clemmons at the entrance of the school looking not happy.

"Mr. C," I say as I walk up to him.

"I think all of this is blown out of portion, but I can't do much more than what I have. Mr. Mars has your security here, and I will try to keep the hounds at bay. I will advise you both if it gets too much during finals you might have to do take home ones," he says as I look to Logan who nods his head as I do. The day goes by slowly as I am on auto pilot moving from one class to the next. It wasn't until lunch did I realize I hadn't seen Laura this morning.

"Where was Laura?" I asked Logan when he sat down handing me a slice of pizz.

"She went out of town for something. She had wanted to take Wyatt with her, but dad talked her into leaving her," he said smiling as I nod my head.

"Are you alright with that?" I question. It took him some time to come around to all that his mom had done, but the moment he saw his sister he was head over heels for her.

"Yeah, we talked last night and she decided she needed to get out of town while the trial was happening to keep a low profile," he says as I watch Dick and Meg sit down with us.

"Here," Dick said as he passed me a bag. I looked inside to find my favorite dessert tiramisu in it. "Logan ordered it, but they forgot to bring it so I went and picked it up for you," he says smiling.

"Thanks," I said as I stuck my fork into it cherishing the flavors as I tried to forget what was going to be happening real soon.

"Hey," Duncan says as he sits across from Meg next to Logan. He had joined us a few weeks ago after Meg gave him an ultimatum. He had to get help for his anger issues and see a therapist. This was so that he could finally meet his daughter. He is allowed to visit her at our house twice a week only if my dad is home. He has done well with it so far.

"Hey, is your parents in town," I asked as I took a bite of my pizza.

"Yeah, my dad is. My mom refuses to leave Europe for this. She made some comment about Lily loving the turmoil she has created or something like that," he says as I laugh. Lilly would sure love this. We spend the next 20 minutes talking about our finals and what we were going to be doing this weekend. We were all suppose to leave for our Senior Trip to Magic Mountain, but who knows it might change.

"V, how are you holding up," I hear Weevil ask as he walks up beside me. I was still a little mad at him since his boys burned down Duncan's home over the weekend because he got off without anything happening to him. It wasn't really all his fault but Felix was stabbed by someone that night, just not Duncan.

"Well will I be arrested for socializing with you," I question as he shakes his head.

"Nah, girl," he mutters as he looks behind me. "Forget about it," he mutters as he walks away just as I feel someone wrap their arm around my waist.

"What did he want?" Logan questions as I look up to him.

"I don't know you scared him away," I say as I get into the back of the Range Rover with Logan as Leo gets in the front. He drives us both to the house so we can change and then he heads to the court house. I didn't want to be here, but I was summoned so I had to show up.

Logan and I sat in the second row next to my dad. He had saved us seats. I watched as the seat began to fill with other people. Jake and Duncan were seated on the opposite side of the courtroom behind the DA. I saw Trina in front of us right behind her dad.

"How were the kids?" I asked as Logan reached for my hand.

"The three of them are going to be trouble soon," he whispers as I laugh. My laughter made Aaron turn around and look our way. He gave me a smirk and blew a kiss my way. I felt like gagging in my mouth, but kept quiet. The judge came in and called the court to order. Several people were called I thought I would get off, but the DZ decided to call me.

"We'd like to call Veronica Echolls to the stand," Matt Jones the DA for the case says as I look toward Logan. I wasn't totally ready for this. I stand up and walk toward the front of the room to the witness stand. I promised to tell the truth as I sat down. I tried to keep my eyes focused on the DA, but he was moving around.

He asked me questions about Lily and her character. He then questioned me about my family and the Kanes. I was getting annoyed with his stupid questions until he asked me to tell about the night I found the tapes. I explained how Logan and I went to the Kane house to look into Lily's vent because she use to hid things in there. We watched them and then decided to take them to my dad, but Aaron was I the back seat of our car. We got into an accident and the he attacked me placed me into a freezer and tried to burn me alive. He thanked me and ended his questioning.

"Ms. Mars," Mr. Lavoie says, as I look at the smug bastard already disliking him.

"It's Mrs. Echolls," I say correcting him. He looks over a paper and shakes his head.

"Right, you married Logan Echolls. May I ask was it for his money," he questions as I bite my tongue from yelling at him.

"No, Logan's mom asked me to marry him. It was something she wanted for him," I say as calmly as I could.

"Yet, didn't you receive a large sum of money for marrying him," he counters as the DA objects, but the judge allows the question.

"Yes," I say as I look to Logan.

"Lily Kane was your friend," he says not really having a question.

"Yes," I answer.

"Would you say you looked up to your friend and even tried to proposition my client the night you say he tried to burn you alive. You told him you'd give him the tapes if he slept with you," he questions as I struggle to stay in my seat.

"No, I didn't proposition him. I was already married to Logan. I had no reason to even want to sleep with Mr. Echolls," I snap as he chuckles looking over his papers.

"Isn't it true you recently were treated for a sexually transmitted disease?" he counters as I look to my dad. I feel the vomit coming up as I swallow slowly.

"Yes, but it had nothing to do with him," I snap. I couldn't look at my dad because I knew I was in deep trouble.

"Well, you had an STD but you claim you weren't trying to hook up with my client. Something here doesn't make sense," he says smirking at me as smugly as he could.

"I was rapped at a party last year," I muttered as Logan jumps up yelling.

"I'm sorry I don't think the jury heard you," he smirks.

"I was drugged and raped at a party last year," I say on the verge of tears.

"I find that hard to believe," he says as he flips through his folder. "I don't see a police report or anything," he says looking at me.

"I reported the crime to the Sheriff, but he just laughed it off telling me to see the wizard," I mutter as I see my dad look right at Lamb.

"That's all for now," he says as the judge dismisses me.

"Let's call it a day and we'll pick it up again tomorrow at 8 am me," the judge says slamming his gavel down. I rush out of the courtroom to the bathroom before anyone could get to me. I begin to throw everything up as I feel miserable. I sit on the bathroom floor crying as I dry heave. I don't know how long I sat there, but I felt an arm go under my knees and around my shoulders.

"Bobcat, let's go home," Logan says as I wrap my arms around his neck. I felt so useless and afraid. I felt something go over my head blocking out the flashes of the cameras as I was being carried away. I don't remember the ride home waking up stretched out on my bed.

"Dad," I mumble as he looks up from the chair he was sitting in.

"Veronica," he mutters running his hand down his face. "Are you alright?" he questions as I nod my head.

"Yeah," I say softly.

"Logan know about what happened," he asks as I nod my head once more. "Why didn't you come and tell me?" he questions as I begin to cry.

"I didn't want you to look at me differently like you are right now," I mutter as he nods his head.

"I would have stood by you," he says choking up. "Jake called in a favor to the mayor asking for Lamb to be fired. He was outraged that he would even say that to you," he says as I look up to the door where Logan stood.

"Did he admit to it?" I question as Logan moved into the room sitting on the bed.

"No, he made up some excuse that you were a trouble maker and how could he believe that someone would stoop that low," my dad says as I curl my legs up to my chest.

"Yet, he was placed on leave, and dad was asked to step in for awhile," Logan says smirking as I give my dad a smile. My dad left leaving Logan and me alone for a while until I curled up against him falling to sleep hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.


	20. Chapter 20

Shattered Forgotten and Treasured

Chapter 20:

**Veronica**

After the emotional day of testimony I felt so worried about Logan this morning. Aaron's lawyer demanded him at the prison this morning. The judge even signed the letter pretty much leaving Logan with no choice. I hated that even after all this Aaron was still affecting our lives. I slowly turned on my side only to find Logan fast asleep. I quietly got out of bed and picked up Gracelynn before she made any noise and left.

"Its 5 o'clock," my dad mutters as I walk into the kitchen area. He had Wyatt up and in a high chair feeding her.

"I was awake so here I am," I say as I look outside to see a flash of sandy blonde hair. Of course Dick wouldn't be missing the waves. I walked to the back wall of windows and watched as he ran into the water with his board in his hands. I hated to admit that he had grown on me. I was worried he would end up hurting me again but he really stepped up and helped me more than I would like to admit.

"Morning," I hear whispered in my ear as I turn my head to see Logan beside me.

"Did I wake you?" I asked as he laughed touching our little girls nose with his finger.

"No, I set the alarm to go off. I thought I would hit the waves for a little while before we had to head out," he says as I see him tense up a little. I knew this meeting was going to shake him up. I just hoped it didn't do anything else.

"Well have fun with your buddy," I say smiling as I see Duncan coming from the corner of the property. I guess they invited him, but it was still odd sometimes to see him inter mingling with us. I watched the three of them surf for a while after feeding and burping Gracelynn on the patio. I was about to get up when I felt two wet arms wrap around me.

"Did you enjoy watching us?" Logan asks as I nod my head. He was chilled but it felt good on my warm skin. "I'm always in awe of you," he whispers as I am let go and he moves to the side of me.

"Are you two heading out after you change?" dad asks as Leo takes our daughter and places her in one of the three play pens in the living room. I hear one of the other babies before I see her. Wyatt was wide awake kicking her feet babbling on as if she was talking to someone else. I was amazed at how much she looked like Logan.

Logan and I change out of our clothes and get clean ones out. I pull on a sundress which had become one of my favorite articles of clothing since meeting him. I looked around for a pair of simple flats. Logan was taking a shower still when I walked into the bathroom to brush my hair and pull half of it up. I put a little sheer powder on and then some lip gloss.

"You know you don't have to go with me. You'll just be waiting while I go in and all," he says as he dries off. I knew he was right, but I felt like I needed to be there. I just wanted to protect him.

"I know," I say as I kiss his cheek and head downstairs to get something to eat. Logan comes down about 10 minutes later dressed and ready. He pulls a slice of toast off my plate and eats it. I pass him a banana as I clean up my dishes and we follow Leo to the Range Rover.

It was quiet the whole way to the prison area in San Diego, but nothing that was horrible. I watched Logan the whole way as he fiddled with his shirt sleeves. I knew this wasn't the easiest thing for him to do. I knew the horror of what he did go through probably hasn't really sunk in, but at least he has been able to move forward. This visit with Aaron might set that all back. I get out of the SUV as he does to show him my support as he kisses my forehead and heads for the entrance.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

"I'll be right waiting for you when you get done," Veronica says as I look from her to the prison in front of me. I had been doing a good job of avoiding Aaron since I left his house, but I didn't like having him hanging over our lives. I followed Leo as he started to walk toward the entrance of the prison. I had to walk through a metal detector, and leave all my personal items in a box before getting a plastic badge.

As I entered the room I noticed the guard standing off to the side. He points toward the tables where I see Aaron sitting in an orange jump suit. The color looked horrid on him, but his actions got him here.

"Mr. Echolls sit there," the guard says as I sit down on one side of the glass wall. I see Aaron taking his seat in front of me. He had been standing off to the side until I sat down. He picks up the phone attached to the wall and gestures for me to do the same.

"Hello, son," he smirks at me as I feel like slamming him into the wall.

"What the hell did you need to see me for? Unless you plan on changing your plea to guilty there was no reason for me to be here," I snap as he begins to move his wrist as if he was twitching to hit me.

"I wanted to talk to you before you testify," he says rigidly all I could was nod my head. "We both know the D.A.'s gonna ask what you saw on those tapes. I think it's in your best interest that you don't tell him," he continues as I flinch at how even his voice was.

"Are you freaking serious? I was seated with Duncan and Veronica when we found the tapes. I was in the car when you freaked us out. I was there when her dad found her in a freaking refrigerator burning alive. She is my wife, I will never lie for you," I sneer at him as the guard moves a little closer to us.

"Damn it, you are my damn son. You better begin to show me some respect or I will have to show you how to," he sneers between his teeth.

"What, because I want so desperately for you to be free so we can be a family again?" I snap as he slams his fist down on the table causing the people around us to look at him. "Aw gee, Dad. You're always looking' out for me," I sneer as I go to get up but sit back down turning to look him square in the eye.

"Mr. Echolls five minutes," the guard says as I turn to him once more.

"I will only tell you this once. If you ever try to hurt me or my wife or family again, you'll wish they gave you the electric chair," I sneer at him as get up once more. "Thanks for the advice, but maybe you should call your lawyer. I turned over all the evidence of your abuse over yesterday after your testimony," I say smiling at him as I hang up the phone. I can hear him banging on the glass screaming as I walk out of the room. I felt free.

"Are you okay?" Veronica asks as I walk up to her while Leo walks behind me.

"Yeah," I say giving her an honest smile.

"We got to head out. Keith is giving his testimony later this afternoon and then you are Logan," Leo says as he waits for both of us to get buckled in. I decided before we left San Diego to feed Veronica again because she hadn't eaten much of her breakfast. We barely arrive at the courthouse in time. Keith was already in the witness stand being questioned.

"Veronica told me she and Logan were on their way home from the Kane house," he says as I squeeze her hand. "I got worried when I hated heard from them, so I drove the route I knew they would've taken. I saw their car, stopped, got out, I heard a commotion in the back of a nearby house and went looking for Veronica and Logan. Just as I was rounding the corner I was jumped," he says as I keep my focus on him not the scum in front of us.

"Mr. Echolls testified that after his son lost control of the car and crashed it, um, he was knocked out so he went with Veronica to knock on the door of a nearby house, asked the owner to call a tow truck, and they waited on the man's porch," I hear the overpriced ass say as I can see Aaron nod while Veronica muttered something under her breath.

"You arrived, saw your daughter in a compromising position, and started a physical altercation with Mr. Echolls. And this story has all been confirmed by the occupant of the house," he continues as I feel Veronica tensing up.

"Your honor objection. The homeowner has disappeared, and despite being subpoenaed, has never been questioned by the prosecution," the DA says as I look toward the judge.

"Sustained," the judge says.

"Mr. Mars has your daughter ever lied to you," he questions.

"I'm sure she's had an occasion or two to fib. She is a teenage girl, after all," Keith says as I knew this was some slim ball attempt to defilement Veronica.

"Did you know your daughter was being treated for an STD?" he questions as I shake my head.

"No," Keith says as I watch Lavoie looking over his papers.

"Did you know your daughter had been raped?" he asks as I begin to clinch my fists.

"No," I hear Keith mutter through clinched teeth.

"Is Veronica Mars your daughter?" he asks as I see Keith lose his cool grabbing Lavoie by his tie, pulling Lavoie's ear close to his mouth.

"What the hell does that have to do with this? Do you enjoy destroying my daughter because of that scum?" he snaps into Lavoie's ear. I so wanted to do that yesterday. I guess Keith and I had the same thought. I watch as Keith lets go of him as everyone in the courtroom babbles in shock.

"Bailiff, have this witness taken—"the judge starts but Lavoie holds his hand up knowing he already destroyed Keith's character.

"I'm fine, you're Honor," he says smugly as I watch Keith lower his head. I hated that he was put into a position like that.

The bailiff heading towards Keith pauses. The horrified murmuring continues around the room as I watch Keith glance quickly over at the jury uncomfortably. "Back to my point Is Veronica Mars your daughter or are you covering up a bigger picture because she is the other daughter of Jake Kane," he questions as more people murmur and I feel Veronica pull my hand into her lap. I looked over to her to see her barely holding it together.

"Veronica is my daughter. I had a DNA test done to prove it," Keith relents as I see Veronica shaking.

"Witness can be excused," Lavoie says know just how far he pushed Keith to damage him.

"Let's take a 15 minute break," the judge says as he hits the gavel onto his desk. I see the downcast look in Keith's eyes as he walks toward us ushering both of us out the side door to a room to wait.

"Dad, you did well," Veronica says as she wraps her arms around his waist. I lean into him as he pulls me toward him as well.

"Logan you need to control your anger. Don't screw up like I did?" he says as I nod my head. I knew this was going to be hard but I needed to stay strong.

"What was the point of asking if Veronica was your daughter or not?" I asked as Keith shrugs his shoulders.

"I would assume to see if he could rile me up. If I had an outburst it could prove or show doubt against what I say or have done," he says as I nod my head. The bailiff comes out to let us know time was up. I am ushered back into the courtroom to be called to the stand. Veronica gives me a quick kiss as I walk up to the front and promise to state the truth.

"Logan what did you see when you watched the videos with Veronica and Duncan," the DA asks as I look over to Duncan who was staring blankly nowhere.

"There was just some fuzz in the beginning, static, no picture. And then I saw Lily wearing only her bra sitting on top of someone moaning excitedly. I couldn't see who it was at first, and then they rolled over and I saw my father. He climbed on top of her and continued to have sex with her. He actually smiled at the camera a couple times. He was running his hands all over her body and laughing as he…" I stopped as I tried to clear my head of that picture.

"You're certain they were having sex," the DA asks me.

"Yes," I mutter.

"Can you tell me what happened the night your father attacked your wife and father in law," he asks as I begin to tell him how we found the tapes and headed home. We had been in a rush leaving without Leo. We were doing something when Aaron had scared me and tried to wrestle for the wheel as I ran into a tree. I told him how I was hurt, but watched Veronica make her way to the house, but must have blacked out because I barely remember getting out of the car to find Keith and Aaron wrestling while Veronica was screaming.

"Thank you Logan, no further questions, your Honor," he says as I see Lavoie and Aaron talking in hushed voices.

"Alright, your witness, Mr. Lavoie," the judge says as I Lavoie gets up making his way toward me.

"Mr. Echolls, you are claiming you saw your father trying to hurt Mrs. Mars," he says using air quotes.

"Yes, he had placed her in an icebox and lit it on fire," I snap as he just shakes his head not correcting him on her last name.

"Is it true you only married the girl for the money your dead mother left you?" he questioned as I grind my teeth to keep from exploding.

"No, I married Veronica to get away from him beating me," I say coolly as I hear the murmurs of the jurors. I train my eyes on Veronica as she smiles at me making me thank god for having her in my life.

"Mr. Echolls are you saying this to get back at your father for the lies you are claiming right now that he slept with your ex-girlfriend," he says as he turns back around to look at me with a smirk on his face.

"No, I know what he is capable of doing. I have no doubt that he slept with Lily and killed her. I can say that truthfully because he abused me for years with beating me with a belt to using me as his own personal punching bag," I snap. I can see the smug look wiped off Aaron's face.

"Honestly, Mr. Echolls why would you make up such lies. Do you really despise your father this much to hurt him like this when all he has ever done is love and try to protect you from people who would hurt you," Lavoie says as he looks from Aaron to the jurors.

"Right, the beatings and secret trips to the ER was him showing me his love," I snap as Aaron flies to his feet.

"You were always an ungrateful little brat who thought the world owed you something," he yells out as I hear the gavel and the judge yell order.

"Thank you. No further questions, your Honor," he says mumbling as he walks back to where Aaron was still standing livid. E rest of the day has various people who were friends with Aaron telling what kind of a person he was. I was getting exhausted as I heard Lavoie say he was resting. Veronica sat up straighter next to me as I knew she was thinking the same thing as I was, but no the DA made an announcement that sent the courtroom into a frenzy.

"We'd like to call our final witness to the stand," the DA says as Lavoie stands up.

"Your honor, the DA rested," he mutters as I see a smile cross Keith's face.

"Mr. Lavoie is correct you rested your case," the judge says as the DA asks to approach the bench. The two men are huddled closely as I see Lavoie getting agitated. He didn't like what the judge was saying. "Alright, call your witness," he says as the men walk back to their tables.

"I'd like to call Lynn Echolls to the stand," he says as I hear gasps and then chaos happened. I don't know what was happening other than Keith shoving Veronica and me down as I heard several shots fired and screaming.


	21. Chapter 21

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 21: Unforeseen Issues

**Veronica**

"Get Down!" I heard my dad say as I felt Logan push me down grabbing me close to his body as he covered me. I couldn't see anything from where I was, but I could hear the screaming and shouting of the people all around us.

"We're going to be okay," Logan whispers in my ear as the sound of a gun going off rings throughout the courtroom. I cling to Logan as chaos continues.

"Are you alright?" I hear someone say as I open my eyes to see Logan and my dad standing over me. It was quiet once again.

"What happened?" I questioned as Logan helped me sit up.

"It's a long story," he mutters rubbing his eyes. I see the bailiff and the attorneys were all still in the courtroom, but most of the people were gone. I could see Aaron hand cuffed to his chair in front of us. I looked around for Lynn and found her sitting in a chair as someone looked at her arm.

"Lynn," I say quickly getting up and going to her. I just felt better knowing she was okay.

"Veronica, honey I am fine just a graze," she says as I wrap my arms around her.

"I just can't lose anyone else," I say as she pulls me into a hug.

"Oh, honey I don't plan on leaving you guys anytime soon. I had to go away for a while to keep Aaron's people off my scent. The DA made sure to keep me in the loop," she says as I feel Logan pulling me toward him.

"I think Veronica is just glad this shooting didn't hurt anyone," Logan says smiling as I nod my head.

"Come on you guys we need to get home," my dad says as he reaches down to pick up a bag.

"Are you guys going to tell me what really happened?" I ask as we are walking into the house. I see Meg jump off the counter and move toward me as she pulls me into a hug.

"You had me worried," she says honestly as I laugh. "It's just when they said there was a shooting at the Courthouse I began to worry about you and Logan," she says as I pick up my little girl kissing her softly on her forehead. I held her tightly in my arms as I sat down on the sofa.

I looked over to Wallace who was sitting next to Dick. Dick was holding onto Mac's hand as if it were a lifeline somewhere. Their eyes were staring at the TV which was muted. I picked up the TV controller and unmated it.

'_We are coming to you live from Neptune's Courthouse where shots were fired earlier today. The trial of Aaron Echolls came to an abrupt halt as Trina Echolls the daughter of the accused pulled a Deputy's gun out of his holster and fired three shots at and unannounced witness. It has been confirmed that the unannounced witness was none over than Lynn Echolls who faked her death several months ago to get away from her abusive husband Aaron Echolls. Let me tell you this trial has more drama than any soap opera could ever have. The judge has had Ms. Echolls taken into custody and put the trial on hold until first thing in the morning. This is Suzanna McKnight reporting from Neptune, California_,' the reporter says as she waves her microphone.

"Logan, what the hell was she thinking," I asked as he shrugged his shoulders.

"My guess would be she wasn't thinking at all," he snaps as he takes Gracelynn from me and gets up. I watch him walk into the kitchen and sit down on one of the barstools. I go to get up but Dick puts his hand on my shoulder keeping me in place.

"I think he needs time to process all of this," he says as I flip through the channels hating that we were on all of them. I totally disliked the way the media portrays innocent people.

I watch carefully as he talks with his mom when she comes into the house from the garage, but don't make a move to get up. I wanted to give him his space. Wyatt was currently in my lap as I leaned against the end of the sofa with my feet hanging over the top of the arm.

"How's my little girl?" Lynn says as she sits down beside me.

"I'm doing better mom," I joke as she laughs.

"I suppose you are. I know this afternoon was rough, but things are going to get better," she says smiling at me.

"Did they find out why Trina pulled a gun on you?" I asked as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I knew who it was without looking up.

"According to the police she did it because Aaron told her that I was trying to ruining his good name. She felt obligated to protect her dad. She is going to be checked into a mental hospital to see if she is okay. I think Aaron has spent too much time brain washing her," she says softly as Wyatt reaches for her.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I knew when I walked into the living room Veronica would be drilling my mom. She just had to know things. I wanted to stop her, but I didn't have the heart to keep her from finding out what she wanted to know. If I was being honest with myself I would want to know everything as well, but I didn't have the nerve to ask the questions.

Wyatt went right to our mom without even a fuss. She had been very clingy with Veronica and me since our mom left, but tonight she went right to her. "Come Vee, let's head to bed," I finally say as my mom gives her a final hug and she gets up. I hold my hand out for her to join me ending all questions she might have for the time being.

"I can't tell you how much having you here with me means to me," Veronica says as I lay our daughter in her bassinet and change into my pajama bottoms.

"I think you've told me a few times," I say softly as I kiss her on the lips to quiet her.

"What do you think tomorrow will be like," she asks as I snuggle into her back pulling her close to me. "I guess the talking is over for tonight," she jokes as I nod my head into her shoulder causing her to laugh.

"What classes do you have tomorrow?" I asked as I turned over to turn out the light.

"I have two tomorrow, but Clemmons is going to give them to me here. He says I might be a distraction if I go to school. What about you?" she asks as I laugh.

"I am going to be working with Wallace and Dick on our final courses," I say as she laughs.

"Yeah, I've got to see that," she replies as I close my eyes and inhale her promises and marshmallow scent. I don't know what it is about her, but I love her more than life itself. I finally end up fast asleep.

***LoVe***

"Wallace focus man," I mutter as we are working on our final English assignment. It was times like this I had some of Veronica's power to whip the guys into shape.

"Logan man they cancelled the school dance," Dick mutters as he takes a drink of his coffee. I knew they had did that since too many of the seniors decided to get drunk on the Senior Trip. I had laughed when Dick held up his flask as we got onto the bus. Clemmons sure didn't do a good job at checking him out.

"Yeah, I heard that," I say as he smiles at me. I knew what he had in mind and I also knew Papa Mars wouldn't be having anything like that at the house. I mean we could have a party at Dick's since his dad I currently hiding in some little island due to his fake real estate business. Beaver was living at the house with Kendall.

"Why don't we have a party?" he says as he writes something down on his paper as Wallace quizzed him on the facts of the assignment.

"We couldn't have it here since Papa Mars isn't one for drunken parties. Plus Dick do we really need a party," I mutter as I am having a hard time writing down what I wanted to say.

"Okay maybe not a huge party but one after finals. We could rent a room at the Grand and just relax," he says as I actually think that was a good idea. I mean I could go for a little party for graduation, but wasn't sure what Veronica would want to do.

"We'll see," I say as we continue working on the assignment. I looked up at the clock as I wrote the last sentence of the assignment to see that it was time to head to court.

"Hey, guys," I hear Veronica say as I picked up my books and handed the finished paper to Wallace.

"Don't let Dick have those!" I say as Dick just chuckles.

"I hate to say this but living with the two of you have curbed my partying ways and made me actually do better in school," Dick jokes as I see my mom enter the patio door with Wyatt and Gracelynn.

"Are you two ready?" she asks as I see Alicia following her in with Lily.

"Yeah, I just have to see my little girl," I say as I flower Gracelynn with kisses causing her to laugh.

"Okay, daddy come on," Veronica says as she passes Alicia a bottle and blows kisses to our little girl. Leo drives my mom and us to the courthouse. As we pull up to the sidewalk I see several men surround the Range Rover. One of the men opens Veronica's door and I follow her out waiting for my mom. We walk in together among the flying questions from the media.

Veronica and I sit in our usual seats with a open one for Keith. I look around but don't see him. Cliff comes in and sits down in his seat.

"Keith asked me to sit here with the tow of you until he shows up," he says motioning for me to face forward. The judge calls the room to order and tells the court to disregard the events from the day before. The DA calls my mother to the stand.

"Please state your name," he says as I watch my mom.

"My name is Lynn Echolls," my mom says as I see her staring at me.

"Can you tell the court why you thought it would be best to fake your death?" the DA questions.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to leave Aaron alive. He was abusive throughout our marriage. I finally had the final straw when both my son could have been hurt by one of Aaron's deranged mistresses. I knew then I needed to protect my son no matter the cost," she says as she stops for a moment to take a drink of water.

"What was Aaron's relationship like with Logan?" he questions as I see my mother's face harden.

"It wasn't a healthy one. I had watched Aaron over the years as he disciplined our son, and at first I thought it wasn't anything wrong. I knew there were some parents who used the belt to give punishment, but when it turned into broken bones and several trips to the Emergency Room and payouts to medical staff to keep it on the down low. I began to realize that it had gotten out of hand," she says breaking eye contact with me. I hated seeing her so down. She had come alive since returning, but right now she looked so defeated.

"Why didn't you try to do anything sooner?" the DA asks as he looks from the jury to my mom.

"I tried once to leave. Aaron beat me so bad I had to hide for a month. I always thought Aaron would grow out of his anger issues, but he didn't," she replies as I squeeze Veronica's hand. She leans her head onto my shoulder.

"No further questions," the DA says as I can't believe he never asked her about Lily or anything.

"Mrs. Echolls, you say you faked your death to protect your son," Mr. Lavoie's questions as he circles the area.

"Yes, I thought if I was gone he might stop. Yet, I also figured if he didn't I would have a fail proof plan," she says as I see a smirk on her face.

"How did you get Aaron to sign the papers giving permission to allow Logan to marry Ms. Mars," he questions as I see my mother's smile fade.

"Aaron had just come home from being stabbed and Logan did something he didn't like. The two of them were in his office and Aaron was teaching him a lesson, so I knew he would be distracted. I asked him to sign several papers," my mom says as I remember that day. I can still feel the lash of the belt.

"Did you tell Mr. Echolls what he was signing?" the lawyer counters.

"No, Aaron hardly read the papers just signed them," she admits as I chuckle to myself. He signed the papers without even taking a glance at them.

"The so called Doctors who you said Aaron paid off say you were the one who beat your son. That your husband brought your son in after one of your beating and the two of you were covered in blood," the lawyer says as the jurors look from her to me.

"I never hit my son. I wasn't the one who beat him," she snaps.

"You did drink a lot though. I mean you could have hit him without even knowing. There have been studies that show drinking excessively can impair the mind," he says as I see several jurors writing notes.

"That may be so, but I will not repeat myself. I never hit my son. I was the one who was abused. I couldn't do anything without Aaron telling me what to wear or how I should act," she says as I watch Aaron frown like he was being hurt by her words.

"Yet, you were able to get away and plan an escape with Keith Mars. Where you having an affair with Mr. Mars?" the jerk asks as I want to lurch myself at him and beat him into next week. "Mrs. Echolls, you claim you did all this to protect your son from your husband, but really wasn't it you who killed Lily Kane in a fit of rage. You walked in on your husband's little affair and then proceeded to beat her just like you beat your son," Lavoie says smugly as I jump to my feet.

"You bastard, my mother would never hurt anyone," I yell out as Veronica is trying to pull me down.

"Mr. Echolls sit down and be quiet or I will hold you in contempt," the judge says slamming his gavel down. I begrudgingly sit back down as Veronica wraps her arm around my waist. "Mrs. Echolls answer the question," he continues.

"No," she simply answers. "No, I didn't kill Lily Kane. I knew there was something more going on with her and my husband, but couldn't find any evidence to prove it," she says as I feel a part of me break.

"Mrs. Echolls you swore to tell the truth," Lavoie snaps.

"I am telling the truth. Aaron liked to have sex with young women. I wasn't aware of that until I got pregnant with Logan and he decided to step out on me. He has two other children by two different women he slept with during our marriage and even before we got married," she replies as I see the jurors mumbling once again.

"So you're trying to tell everyone in this room that your husband had an affair while you were married. What does that really have to do with you and Lily Kane," he snaps as if he was losing his patience.

"The first affair during our marriage was with his costar who was 16 years old, the second affair was just a few years ago his 17 year old costar," she says as I see Aaron muttering something to one of the other lawyers before shoving some papers off the table. "He has another son Charlie who is a few years older than Logan. All of the women get support through his charity work under the name Aaron's Kidz. I have no doubt in my mind he was sleeping with Lily and then murdered her. He also slept with another Neptune High student Madison Sinclair," she states as several of the onlookers began to scribble things on their sheets of paper.

"No further questions," Lavoie finally mutters probably trying to shut my mother up. I was still lost on the whole Madison Sinclair thing. What the heck was he thinking sleeping with her? My mother steps down from the witness stand and joins us taking the seat Cliff just left. I listen half heartedly as the Da and Lavoie present their closing arguments. I had learned so much about my family was a lie that it hurt to think of what else was kept from me. I was stunned as I let it sink in that I had three siblings I knew nothing about.


	22. Chapter 22

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 22:

**Aaron**

"I should have known you would try to ruin me," I sneer over the phone to the woman I once loved.

"Oh, honey I haven't even started to ruin you yet. You think me telling about your little play things and children are anything, wait until I do my big reveal," the bitch across from me says as I bang on the table. God, I wanted to get my hands around her damn neck and twist it.

"I don't think there is anything more you can do," I snap as I see a smile filter across her face.

"Oh, but honey there is. I think you might have forgotten about your pre-nup. You were caught with your dick out so I have decided to liquidate all of your assets. You are now as broke as the men you hang loose with in here," she says smiling.

"The pre-nup was meant for your lying ass not mine," I say as I think about it. I never signed anything about me having affairs.

"Well, you're wrong. My father made sure to include a little paragraph about being faithful. Let me tell you Aaron. I have always known about your little sexapades, but never thought of doing anything with it. I knew about Sam and Evaline but decided to not hurt them. Hell I even knew about Charlie and the account you set up for him," she says as I knew she wasn't stupid but thought she never paid attention.

"Come on Lynn, there has to be something that we can work all this out," I mutter looking at her like I loved her. It was a good thing I was an actor because right now I felt anything but love for the tramp across from me.

"I have everything I need from you. You are exactly where you belong. I'll tell one more thing. I know Lily came to the house the day she died. I also know you went after her when she left and didn't return until later that night. I bet you she found your tapes like Veronica and Logan say she did and you went after her to get them back. You were worried about what she might do with them, but she wasn't giving them back and you panicked. You murdered her because you didn't want her to tell the world about your little teen fixation," she says hitting the truth right on the nail.

"That's a nice story Lynn. How the hell do we not know you killed her in a fit of rage after finding her in bed with me," I sneer back at her with as much hostility as I could muster.

"I didn't need to kill her. I knew about her, but also knew that there was a possibility she was trying to trap you like the other girls that you paid off. I guess we'll never know," she says as she hangs up the phone and walks away. I was so pissed off that she even dared to come to see me. Damn Trina for not finishing her off.

"Let's go Echolls," the guard snaps as he jerks me up roughly. I can't believe how screwed up everything was. I had a feeling that Lynn was hiding something, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

***LoVe***

**Lynn**

I felt so good to really tell Aaron what I had been feeling. I just had this sense of calm wash over me the moment I laid it all on the table. I just prayed the jurors saw him for what he truly was, and not for the man they wanted to believe he was.

"Lynn, you scared me," Veronica says as I enter the kitchen. I looked to the clock to see that it was close to one in the morning. She looked as if she hadn't had much sleep at all.

"Are you alright?" I asked as she poured herself a cup of juice.

"Yeah, just antsy with finals and all the crap going on with the trial," she mutters slumping down on the stool next to me.

"Well what is it really that is making you antsy," I question as she looks up at me.

"I'm worried about Logan. This is all new for him. I mean he seems to be doing fine, but I worry about how this will all affect him in the long run," she softly says as I realize just how much she truly cared for my son.

"I think he'll be fine. I know learning he isn't an only child will be something he has to get use to, but Veronica he has you and your dad. He is stronger than he was when I left. He is really another person," I say giving her a smile as I pat her shoulder before heading to my room to check on my daughter and get some sleep.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

As I rinsed my glass I thought about what Lynn had said about Logan and knew deep down she was right. Logan had grown up since he left Aaron's house. He was stronger than he was then. I just hoped that Aaron really got what was coming to him for all the pain he inflicted everyone with. I mean he was seriously delusional if he ever thought he would be a part of Logan's life now.

"Where have you been?" I hear Logan whisper into my shoulder as I feel him pull me closer.

"I went downstairs for some juice. My mind is working on overdrive," I joke as he laughs. He had spent enough time with me to understand what I meant.

"Did the juice help?" he questions as I turn to face him. I look into his brown eyes as I smile and nod my head.

"Yeah, but being here in bed with you is helping more," I say laughing as I close my eyes and snuggle up against his warm chest. I felt like everything else vanished when I was in the safety of his arms.

"Hey, girl you should hear the things people are saying about you," Wallace says as he joins me walking toward my locker.

"Um! Thanks, I guess," I say as he laughs at me.

"Where's lover boy at?" he asks as we stop at his locker. He asks as we lean against the wall near our lockers. "I just took my last high school test ever. Done, over. I'm outta here," he jokes as he blows a kiss out to the passing people. I look back at the book I was looking at before he joined me. I needed to finish cramming.

"Don't know, but you decided to celebrate your last final by torturing me?" I questioned looking up from my book to see him looking scared.

"What you got, one more then you'll be done? Don't get your knickers in a twist," he jokes as I nudge him.

"Really, my knickers. I have to stop allowing you to hang out with Logan. I mean it's not bad except having your future rest on how much you know about the ascendancy rules of Babylon," I moan as I think about the late night I had because I was over thinking things.

"I guess I should let you do your thing since I gotta go clean out my locker," he says as I smile. I was glad I got to have him as a friend when I really needed one.

"You got that salmon I left in there for you, right?" I joked as he quickly opened his locker searching a little before looking back at me.

"Oh, you better enjoy this, 'cause this is as nostalgic as I get," he says pulling out his basketball. "Veronica, I just wanted to say...it was totally worth getting duck taped to a pole. I'm going to really miss you," he says as he now has my full attention. I would miss him to, if it weren't for the fact that my dad was still dating his mom.

"I don't think we'll really be missing each other too much with the way things are going with our parents," I say as he shudders. "You'll miss my stupid-ass face?" I joke as he chuckles making me laugh with him. Yeah, it was totally worth him getting taped to the flag pole. I don't think I could have survived without him.

"Vee, this conversation never happened!" he says with the most serious look on his face as I see him at his locker while I move closer to the door across the hall where my last class was.

"Oh no, it sure did," I say walking into the classroom. I look toward Dick who was talking to Mac as I watched Wallace clean out his locker. I couldn't believe how much my life has changed since Lily's death. I watched Wallace until the teacher closed the door and began walking around the room. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket as I take it out. It was a message from my dad, '_the verdict is in'_.

I take a deep breath as the teacher walks toward my desk laying the test on it before walking away. I had to be in the court to hear the verdict, but I also needed to take this test. My phone vibrates once more as I pull it out, '_the verdict is in, leaving in 20' Logan_ I take a deep breath and write my name on the test. If I didn't at least do some of it I would get a zero and only get a 'B' I needed an 'A' in the class. I quickly flip through it and see that the majority of the test was multiple choice. I decide to do all of them, and get all of the fill-in questions done. As I am about to begin the one essay question I hear the door open as I look up to see Logan standing there. I close my test and put my pen away before walking up to the front of the room where Logan was waiting for me.

"Veronica," the teacher says as I place the unfinished test on her desk and walk out the door. I knew if I couldn't go where I wanted to I could join Wallace and Mac at Hearst.

"Are you nervous?" I questioned as I got into the back seat of the Rover as Leo got in the front.

"I just want to see him get what he deserves," he says smiling at me before kissing my nose.

"I do as well," I muttered as I watched the scenery go by. It was much quicker than I thought as I saw the media frenzy that was waiting for us in front of the courthouse. My dad was waiting with several Deputies as he opened the door for us ushering the two of us into the courthouse away from the mob.

"Lynn is waiting for the two of you in the courtroom," he says before disappearing. I looked toward Logan as he pulled my hand into his and led me to the room that would hold the fact of Aaron Echolls.

"There you two are. I was getting worried," Lynn says as we join her.

"We had to finish up mom," Logan says as if it was common knowledge. She just shook her head as she looked back toward the door where I saw my dad waiting. He was talking to Sacks.

"Keith," Lynn says as he sits beside me while Logan sat in between his mom and me holding both of our hands. I looked forward just as the Bailiff entered the room. Aaron was already seated next to his lawyers.

"All rise," he says as I watch the judge come in and sit down while everyone one sits down except Aaron, his lawyer and the female foreman of the jury.

"Foreman has the jury reached a verdict?" he asks as I begin to worry because they weren't out deliberating too long.

"Yes we have, Your Honor. On the count of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant… not guilty," she says as I gasp from holding my breath. I wasn't expecting this; I thought for sure they would find him guilty. I am too stunned to really say anything as I feel Logan rub circles on the back of my hand. I look to him and see his eyes are set into slits. He was barely holding it in. The people though in the courtroom were excited though by him not being found guilty.

"On the count of statutory rape, we find the defendant...not guilty," that came to be as a blow even with Lynn's statement and the evidence of his time with Madison and the two children he fathered with minors. I was getting ticked off by the fact that they weren't going with the evidence. "On the count of aggravated assault, we find the defendant...guilty," she says as she looks toward me. Aaron turns and looks directly at me with a smirk on his face.

"Aggravated assault toward Miss. Mars and her father as well as the bodily assault toward Logan Echolls," the judge asks as I can see the grime frown Logan was making.

"Yes, your honor," she says as she hands the sheet of paper to the bailiff who then walks to the judge and give him the paper.

"Your honor, we would like Aaron sentenced today," the DA says as he stands to his feet.

"Your honor, my client has the right to wait for his sentencing," Lavoie starts as Aaron is muttering.

"You are correct, but with the evidence that the DA has given the court of the bodily assault of Logan Echolls I am going to sentence him today," he says looking over the file in front of him.

"I have read statements from both Logan and Veronica Echolls about the assault they received at the hands of Aaron Echolls. I know the two of them have some reservations about the violent tendencies Mr. Echolls has shown. He placed Mrs. Echolls in a refrigerator and poured gasoline on it. He beat Mr. Mars and then set his daughter on fire. He willing used belts and his body to beat his own son," he says as I stare at him just willing him to continue.

"It's all lies, fabricated by a twisted teenager," Aaron yells as he jumps to his feet slamming his hands on the table in front of him.

"Sit down, Mr. Echolls. I can see how your temper can flare when things aren't going your way. In this room I am the person in charge. Your sentence is 15 to 20 years in a maximum security prison without the possibility of parole until you've served 15 years, restitution to both Mr. Mars and his daughter for $50,000.00, 3 years of probation and this is an important one a restraining order active the day you get out of prison for Logan and Veronica Echolls and their family where you can not be within 50 feet of them," the judge says as I can see Aaron was pissed off. I was jumping for joy on the inside and outside. He might have gotten away with murder, but he will serve time for hurting us.

"Thank God," Logan mutters through gritted teeth.

"Case closed, Bailiff take Mr. Echolls into custody," the judge says as I watch Aaron snapping at his lawyers and the bailiff smirking as he puts the handcuffs back on his wrists. My mouth began to mouth to quiver as I see him glaring at me as the bailiff takes him away. I am so thankful as I see Sacks move closer to us a chaos breaks out in the courtroom with protests from the gallery and people yelling.

My dad leads us out the side door away from the chaos and into a waiting SUV. As he drives us home he tells both of us how proud he was of us. Logan just smiled as I leaned into him. I felt glad that he was finally rid of the monster for once and for all. I just hoped that Aaron died in prison as we pulled up to our house where our family and friends were waiting for us.


	23. Chapter 23

Shattered, Treasured and Forgotten

Chapter 23: Lost Love

**Veronica**

I was super excited since this was the last day I would have to attend Neptune High, and that was only to walk across the stage to graduate. I turned over in bed to find Logan was already up, but upon further inspection of the bassinet I found my little sleeping beauty wide awake. I picked her up and quickly changed her before heading down stairs. I heard my dad talking to someone, but was unsure who it was.

"Good morning," Lynn says as she gives me a smile before returning her attention back to her daughter. I looked around for Logan, but didn't see him.

"He went surfing with Dick," I heard Mac say as she handed a laptop to my dad. I looked from her to him.

"Sacks and I have been looking into the bus crash a little more. We found out that Woody Goodman was somehow connected," he says as I eye him up.

"Why would he blow up a bus?" I question as I sit down at the counter beside Mac as she takes Gracelynn from me. She seemed to enjoy holding her as long as she wasn't fussy or dirty.

"I haven't been able to connect that dot just yet, but I got some evidence that tied him to the other two boys with his little league team. He might have blown up the bus to keep them quiet and the rest of the people were collateral damage," he says looking over some files.

"Do you know where he is?" I ask as I hand Mac a bowl of baby food for the baby.

"Sacks got a hit off of his credit card for some lodge. I plan to head there after the graduation ceremony," he says smiling as he heads off toward the security office.

"Are you girls excited?" Lynn asks as she wipes Wyatt's face.

"I don't know," I admit as I see the guys walking up to the back door.

"I'm just happy to be done with the high school drama," Mac says smiling as she wipes Gracelynn's face. Logan walked in first and when he noticed me he smiled as he walked toward me.

"Have a good night?" he asks as I kiss his cheek. We had toned down our PDA in front of the parental since they seem to be hanging out more.

"Yeah, Gracelynn was awake when I woke. I missed you this morning," I whispered as he kissed my nose before going to the stairs.

"I am so glad you two got over your issues. I was worried you'd end up hating each other," Lynn said as I watched Meg enter the kitchen area with a grin plastered on her face.

"Oh my god, we are graduating this afternoon," she says excitedly before sitting down at the table. I was surprised Lilly wasn't with her.

"Where's Lilly?" I questioned as I watched Duncan Kane coming into the house from the back patio followed by his dad. They seemed to be whispering softly to themselves as he held Lilly close to his chest. He looked like he had been in the water with the others.

"Morning," Jake says as he follows Duncan into the house. I look to Lynn who smiles as I see my dad coming into the area from the corner of my eye.

"Jake, do you feel old," he asks as I hear Jake chuckle softly.

"Yeah, I always thought Lilly would be the one to have a baby before graduating high school," he says looking at the little girl in his arms.

"I think we all did," I hear myself say before I can take the words back.

"How is your little girl?" Jake asks as he moves closer to Meg passing Lilly to her.

"She's doing well. I think Lilly would have loved both of them," I say softly as Logan comes down the stairs followed closely by Dick.

"Yes, she would have. I think they would have been spoiled rotten by her," he admits with an expression that made me feel the loose of her.

"I'll see you at the ceremony," my dad asks Jake as he nods his head before walking toward the front entryway. He walked back into the room with several envelops in his hand and passed them all out to us.

"I know that this past year has been rough on all of you, but I hope this next year is better," he says as he hands my dad an envelope before leaving.

"Dad," I ask as he shakes his head.

"It's for Wallace," he says as he puts it on the counter. I decide to open the envelope. I pulled out a card and found a check in it for a large amount of money. I rolled my eyes at the amount knowing it was just pocket change for him.

_ 'Veronica,_

_ I know things have been very rocky for you with everything going on around you. I didn't know you could have been mine at all. I first learned of it when you approached me at the Christmas party. If I had known it I would have changed things. I always thought of you as a daughter to me. For as long as I can remember you and Lily were joined at the hip. It hurt not hearing your laughter around the house after she died, but I understood it was just as hard for you as it was for everyone else. I am forever grateful for your courage and persistence that found Aaron as her killer. I wish he got a worse fate, but now she can rest. I hope you have a very prospers future with Logan. He loves you more than any man should love his wife. Take care of him and your daughter. Thank you for keeping my granddaughter safe as well while Duncan got his head on right. Love you Always, Jake Kane' _

I didn't know what to think after reading the note. I wished he could have just came out and told me in person, but the words meant the same thing. I looked to Dick who smiled, as I turned to see Mac she was fanning herself with the card she got, Meg was laughing at something Duncan was saying and Logan had his eyes on me when I turned to him.

"I'm glad this is almost over," he says kissing my forehead. I hand my card to him. He looks it over before handing it back to me. "Mine was similar without the might be dad thing," he jokes as I laugh. I grab a pancake from the platter my dad set on the counter as everyone else began to dig in. I looked at the check in my hand for $1 million dollars and folded it putting it in my pocket.

"I can't believe your dad gave me $500,000 dollars," Mac says as I look over at her. She was so excited.

"Well, he's not going to miss it," Dick chimes in as Logan nudges him.

"How much did you get?" Dick asks Meg.

"I got more than I really need," she mutters as I see Duncan look up from Lilly.

"Well it's not only for you, but also Lilly," he says softly as she smiles at him.

"I know but it was still a lot of money," she says as he shakes his head.

"I got the same as Mac," Dick says holding up his check as my dad walks by taking it. "Not cool man," he mutters as my dad turns around smirking.

"I just assumed you'd sign it over for living here the last several months," he says jostling as I see Dick flush as he nodded his head.

"Dick, dad is joking," I say taking the check form him and handing it back to him. "He prefers chasing bail jumpers," I say as he shrugs his shoulders laughing. We eat the rest of breakfast in light chatter as I watch Logan hand his check to me. I looked at it to see it was for the same as mine.

"Okay crew, we need to get dressed and head to school," Logan says as he picks up Gracelynn from my lap and hands her to his mom. "You'll be okay with the two of them," he questions softly as she nods her head.

"Alicia will be helping us out," my dad says as he takes Lilly from Meg. I kiss my little girl and head upstairs to my room where Mac and Meg were already waiting for me. The guys were getting dressed in Dick's room across the hall. I helped Mac curl her hair while Meg did mine. I had picked out a nice soft lilac colored dress that had a sheer over. It was something I think Lily would have picked out if she had went with me.

Once we are finished getting ready we head to the school to do our walk through. I saw Wallace the moment I got out of the SUV. He was talking to some girl, but she seemed to be looking toward someone else. I looked at the guy next to her and saw Weevil. I hadn't seen him in a while. I had gotten Mac to help him in his math class so he would pass it, but things had been rocky with us.

"Weevil," Logan says as he holds out his hand.

"You two love birds flying out of here after graduation," he asks as I look to Logan.

"No, we're staying close to home for a while, probably going to Hearst next year," he says as I look surprised because we hadn't really talked much about it.

"College, man that sounds boring," Weevil snickers as I nudge him. He looks up at me from the corner of his eye.

"Here," Logan says as he passes an envelope to Weevil. Weevil takes it but doesn't open it. I look at Logan curiously as he turns to walk away.

"What did you give Weevil?" I question as he smiles.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he replies as I nudge him before joining our friends as we all entered the gym. It was decorated in the green and gold colors of our school. We did our walk through and then we were dismissed.

We all just hung out at the school since we would have had to be back within the next hour to do the actual graduation. It was funny as we all talked about how we changed over the last four years. I knew if someone told me I would be married to Logan Echolls happily with a daughter I would have set them up. I was happy for once. I looked around our group and noticed how we all were smiling and laughing. I looked past Dick to see Cassidy lingering outside staring at us. It was creepy, but I thought he was just looking at us because of Dick, but his glare seemed off like he was planning something.

I am lagging outside the gym waiting for my dad as I watch everyone sit down. I look down at my green gown and my honors medal happy that this will all be over soon enough.

"Honey, you should be seated," my dad says as he makes his way to me holding Gracelynn in his arms.

"I know, but I wanted to see you before you sat down," I say looking toward Logan who was watching me. "Do you really have to go after Woody?" I mutter as he gives me a small smile.

"Yes, I am going after him. I have new evidence that shows he might not be the person behind the bus crash, but he was into other things involving young boys," he says as I look to him worried.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"He liked to play with the boys on his little league teams. The janitor and a few of the boys on the bus were old members from his teams. I think someone blew up the bus to keep the boys from coming clean about what happened to them," he says as I move into the gym. "We'll talk more after graduation," he says ushering me off to my seat.

I watch as he grins proudly with Gracelynn in his arms and goes to take his seat in the stands next to Jake, Alicia and Lynn as well as our children. I smile as I watch Weevil's grandmother reaches up to adjust his cap. Mr. Clemmons is in the middle of calling the students up one by one.

"Logan Echolls," he says as I watch John Enbom smack him on his back. I was seated with the "M's". There's a lot of applause as he makes his way left to right across the stage. "Wallace Fennel," he says continuing as I clap for my friend. The cheers are a little louder for Wallace as the basketball team joins in on the cheering. I was still clapping when a finger pokes me in the shoulder. Mac and I were sitting by Meg and some boy I don't know too well. I lean back to talk with her.

"Guess what?" she says excitedly as I just shake my head causing Meg to laugh sitting beside her.

"What?" I say hoping she'll just tell me.

"Dick got us a room at the Neptune Grand for tonight," she says as I give her a small smile since I knew about that.

"Oo-la-la," I giggle as Meg chuckles even louder as the boy sitting next to me leans forward probably hoping to get out of here soon.

"Can you be serious for one second, you got any advice?" she questions as I see Meg looking back at me as well waiting for an answer.

"Close your eyes and think of England?" I throw out at her as I see the boy shake his head. I could see both Mac and Meg were not impressed with my answer. I looked forward to see Clemmons was still calling names.

"Don't listen to her Mac, she clearly has way too much England time with Logan," Meg says as I just laugh because we do snuggle a lot, but haven't actually been doing the deed in a while. I was hoping to get lucky tonight as well.

"Just relax Mac, Dick will take care of you," I say not really believing I would ever use those words in a sentence to describe Dick. She smiles as she turns to face forward as Meg gives me a thumbs up.

"Cindy Mackenzie," Mr. Clemmons finally says as I clap my hands for my friend. I notice there's a smattering of applause throughout the gym.

"Megan Manning," he says as I watch Meg walking toward the stage. Duncan claps his hands as I look back seeing Jake doing the same. I think things will finally be better at the Kane house.

"Scott Markham," I hear as I begin to move closer to the stage. I see Mr. Clemmons leaning down to the microphone looking at me.

"Veronica Mars," he says. I see all my friends and family jumping up clapping and yelling. Logan is giving me the best smile I could ever need. Clemmons leans forward, covering the microphone with his hand.

"You were expecting some other reaction?" he questions as I look around me. He hands me my scroll.

"I..." I start but can't find the words to say.

"I can't decide if my life is going to be easier or more difficult with you gone. Anything I should know in case I get another one like you someday?" he questions as I give him a proud smile and a small nod.

"Don't keep all your passwords taped on the bottom of your stapler. And stay cool Mr. C." I finally say as I move my tassel to the other side as I hold up my scroll and make my way back to my seat.

****LoVe****

**Logan**

I was standing with Veronica holding our daughter since my mom gave her to us. There were several kids who just wanted to see her. I think a lot of them couldn't believe we actually had a child. I know Madison was giving me death glares as I stood next to Veronica. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but decided to let it go. It was strange to watch the people all milling around us. I saw Keith as he was making his way toward us. He had just dodged a kid who was about to hit another kid.

"For you on this momentous occasion," he says smiling as he hands Veronica an envelope. I watch amused as she takes it and feels it before shaking her head.

"A pony? Daddy you finally caved and got me a pony," she says excitedly jumping up and down, but when she opens it to find airline tickets her face falls.

"New York?" she says softly looking over at me.

"We all leave Tuesday," he says smiling at her as she gives him a hug.

"Broadway, Soho, the MOMA?" she says cheerfully as I watch him laugh while shaking his head at her.

"No honey, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Madison Square Gardens," he says as he lists the places he wants to go.

"Here Logan," Keith says handing me an envelope. I open it one handed as I was holding Gracelynn still. I look inside to see a set of keys.

"What are these for?" I question as he smiles at me.

"Your mom and I talked to the dean at Hearst and he is allowing the two of you to share a dorm in the co-ed section with Gracelynn," he says as I pull him into a hug. I had planned on just driving back and forth, but this could save both of us time and money to live on campus. I watch as Veronica jumps into his arms to hug him as well.

"Dad thank you so much. This is awesome. I haven't thought about our living arrangement, but I know Logan was thinking about them," she says as I smile at her. She lets him go.

"I'm glad you guys like that, but if you still want to live at home I'm all for that as well. I mean it might turn into a place you just crash at or study at," he says as I know this would be hard on all of us.

"Awesome. Now, go catch Woody. I get creeped out just knowing he's out there somewhere preying on the innocent like some monster," she says as I look at her strangely. I needed to see what she meant about that later.

"All right. You two have fun tonight, but not too much," he says kissing Veronica and our daughter before he took off.

"That's the plan," she whispers as I pull her close to me. We were about to turn when Veronica is slapped on the ass by Dick who is totally oblivious at how ticked off Veronica looks. 

"Put on your dancing shoes, Mars, 'cause tonight..." he starts to dance, We're gonna up chuck the boogie to rhythm of the boogie the beat," he says as I just laugh while I cover our daughter's ears.

"Up chuck?" she questions as she turns to look at me. Dick points back to her as he joins Mac.

"You heard me, now let grandma take the little one and meet us at the Grand," he says laughing as Mac swats at his arm.

Veronica aims two finger guns at his back as we walk toward the Range Rover where Leo was waiting for us. My mom was already at the house when we got there.

"You two looked lovely together," my mom says as she snaps a few pictures of the three of us in our cap and gowns and without them. I turn to take the half sleeping baby to a playpen as I feel Veronica wrap her arms around me.

"Let's get some dinner and head to the Grand," she says as I nod my head before walking toward our SUV. I was glad Aaron was in jail because we got a little more freedom without having to worry about him jumping out at us.

***LoVe***

**Keith**

I was excited to have been the one to find Woody. He needed to pay for his crimes. I just hated that it took me away from Veronica and Logan. I don't know if I'll ever get used to saying that. I watch as a few guys had toward their cabins with guns in their hands. I was nervous with all the fire power around her, but I was going to get my man.

I saw Woody inside the cabin watching TV in only his boxers so I decided to look around for a way in to keep him from suspecting that something was wrong or up. I make my way into the bathroom and hide in the shower until I see him making his way toward the bathroom. I can tell he seems alarmed as he notices me out of the corner of his eye.

The moment he sees he pulls a deer's head off the wall throwing it toward me. He heads for the open window and tries to climb out but I place my taser to his back as he slinks to the floor crying out in pain. I am out of breath as I pull my phone out. I call information to get the local police out here.

As we are waiting for everyone to get here I have Woody get dressed. I then place handcuffs on him and cuff him to the bench so that he couldn't make a run for it. I spoke to the Deputy when they arrived allowing them to decide how to proceed as I finished doing what I needed to do. The Deputy takes Woody and leads him to a plane.

I couldn't believe Woody tried to reason his way out of what he did to all those innocent boys by blaming the parents for not caring enough for them. I was sick to my stomach as he said what he did. It was hard to keep from wrapping my hands around his neck and strangling him myself, but I thought about Veronica and Logan who needed me. I could tell he had no clue about the bus crash so that meant there was still a murder on the loose.

"You caught him," Veronica says as I laugh.

"They are loading him onto his own plane as we speak. Soon as the pilot gets here, we'll be homeward bound," I say as I was glad this was over.

"Did he confess to why he caused the bus crash?" she questioned as I heard her mutter something I couldn't make out.

"Unfortunately, he insists that he didn't do it so we're gonna need a lot more evidence to nail him," I say knowing all we really had him on was the molestation of the kids. "Pilot just got here. I'll be in late, so don't wait up. Please have some fun with that boy of yours. See you in the morning, honey," I say as I climb on board the plane and settle in for the flight.

I sit looking over the notes I brought with me about the bus crash and the details from Lucky. I knew that it had to be someone Woody hurt, but without knowing all the kids Woody had been with it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I am looking out the window as I realize we are getting closer to Neptune. The plane shakes a little as I try to steady my breathing, but then chaos erupts.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

Logan and I enter into WOODY'S HAMBURGERS RESTAURANT and we place our orders as I decide to look at the team photos. I knew that two of the boys killed on the bus were on his team, but we never identified all the kids who were involved in the whole thing. I knew my dad decided that the janitor was on his team at some point. _Derek Applegate_. "Who are you and where do you live?" I say out loud as Logan comes to stand next to me. I look over the names again to see "Not Pictured." The name against it is Cassidy Casablancas. It's like everything just falls into place.

"Oh god," I mutter as I barely get to the bathroom leaving I know a puzzled Logan behind. I throw up in the toilet and clean off my face as I think back to the scrawny kid no one would think would be capable of doing something like this.

"Veronica," Logan says as I exit the bathroom.

"It was Cassidy," I mutter as he follows me outside forgetting all about the food we had ordered.

"What are you talking about?" he questions me. I fill him in on everything as I try to call my dad, but go to voicemail as I explain to him what I found out. Then I call Mac and Dick, but I am sent to voicemail once again. Logan heads to the Grand knowing that Cassidy would be there.

Logan and I make our way into the party looking for Dick and Mac but don't find either of them. Corny tells us that they went up to a room to have a little party of their own.

"Can you tell me which room Richard Casablancas is in?" Logan barks out as I continue to look around.

"I'm sorry. There's a "Do not disturb" on the room," the manager says as I begin typing out a message to dick and Mac telling them to stay away from Cassidy because he was a murder.

As I begin to head after Logan I get a message from Mac asking me to meet her on the roof. "Logan," I call out as he turns to look at me.

"Mac asked me to meet her on the roof. You look for Dick and I'll meet you back here," I say as we go our separate ways. I get into the elevator and head to the roof.

"Mac?" I yell as I close the door behind me.

"Hey, Veronica," Cassidy says as he peeks out from behind a vent holding a gun at me. He tells me that he got my message and took care of Mac and Dick since I had to tell them. They were dead because of me. He has me throw my bag to him as he pulls out my taser.

"So "Beaver's a killer." It's a pretty serious accusation. What exactly do you think you know?" he snarls at me.

"You played for Woody's Little League team with Marcos and Peter. He molested all three of you. They wanted to come forward, but you didn't," I mutter as I try to think of a way out of this situation. "That's why they had to die. My guess? You got the explosives from Curly Moran," I continue trying to buy myself some time.

"Aren't you the smart one?" he sneers at me as he pushes the gun into my head roughly.

"Curly told Weevil that he knew who blew up the bus. He figured it out, didn't he?" I say as he just smiles at me. "You got Weevil and his guys to rough him up, but you had to finish him off. Then you wrote my name on his hand to get me involved," I snap.

"I guess now I know why Logan married you," he chuckles waving the gun around.

"Now let me ask you something. How is it I got Chlamydia?" I snap as he raises an eyebrow as if he had no clue. I knew he was remembering the party at Shelly's because a sick smile crossed his face. He just laughs.

"You were the one who raped me!" I yell as I try to hold in the emotions I was feeling at the moment.

"And yet Dick still thinks I'm a virgin. You see, I know how to keep a secret," he chuckles at me.

I can't believe it this is all about him keeping a secret. "God, I use to pity you whenever Dick was mean to you. I would talk to Lilly about how it was unfair you were the escape goat whenever things went south with Dick. Yet, here you are holding a gun to me. This is some sick way of keeping your dirty little secret. Well I hate to break it to you, Logan and my dad know," I snap as he moves back a step raising the gun higher.

"Yeah, but I've a pretty good feeling that you won't be telling anybody else. I can take care of Logan later and as for your dad he's on Woody's plane right now," he chuckles pulling out a cell phone.

"What do you mean?" I ask as I hope he isn't saying what I thought he meant.

"That's, uh, that's too bad. See, because I have no more use for Woody. You heard about the bomb in Woody's car, right? Yeah, 'cause there's one on his plane and all I have to do is dial," he says laughing as I feel like I wanted to vomit.

"Veronica, you want to call your dad? Say goodbye before I press send, go ahead. I'll give you a minute," he says turning to look toward the night sky.

"Cassidy. No, you're not serious are you. This is my dad," I cry out as he turns back to look at me.

"Fifty-six, fifty-five, tick-tock," he laughs as he continues to count down with his finger on his phone. I pull out my phone and dial my dad's number as fast as I could. I hear it ring as I can't hold back the tears from falling.

"Pick up. Please pick up," I say over and over when there is no answer I cry out, "Daddy".

"Oh well, such a pity," he mutters as he pushes some numbers on his phone. I don't turn around but I can hear an explosion behind me and see out of the corner of my eye a huge fireball.

"What do you know?" It was close enough to work," he sneers at me as I twist around staring in shock crying. I collapse to the ground with my hands on my knees as I barely see Cassidy walking closer to me before he crouches in front of me.

"Sorry about that, I couldn't leave any loose ends. I know this might be a, uh, a real bad time to ask for a favor. How would you feel, now that you've got nothing left to live for, about just rolling yourself off?" he asks jabbing me with his gun. I am typing out a message as fast as I could to Logan to let him know where I was. I needed him now more than ever. "I mean come on I really don't want your DNA all over my shirt," he says laughing at me. I watch as he takes an interest in my taser he has in his hand.

"You sure like this thing. You ever wonder what it feels like to the people you actually taser? Let's give it a whirl, what do you say?" he snarls at me as he jabs me in the arm sending a shock wave throughout my whole body. I can't help jerking around as the surge of energy passes through my body. It felt like I was being shot all over again.

"Stop," I muttered trying to find my composure.

"You know what Veronica I was just thinking? We're Neptune Pirates, right? And this is like I'm making you walk the plank except instead of jabbing you with a sword; I'm sending three hundred thousand volts through you. Now jump," he gleefully snarls at me as he jabs me once more in the arm. I can't help but fall forward sending my hair into my face as I roll over from the pain.

"Please, don't. I have a daughter. You don't need to do this. Just explain to the authorities what happened," I try reasoning with him as he stands up and backs away from me keeping the gun on me the whole time.

"Seriously Veronica, you couldn't do this the easy way? You know I bet I can get Aaron Echolls convicted for the death of another teenage girl and everyone else I've killed," he laughs as I realize Logan might not save me this time.

"No!" I hear Logan's voice behind me as I look up. Cassidy swings around and fires the gun at him. I watch Logan dive to

his left, behind a raised part of the roof. Cassidy walks towards him, as Logan pokes his head up and Cassidy fires the gun again, just missing Logan as he ducks his head back down. I take the opportunity to jump on him taking him to the ground with me as we wrestle for the gun. He pushes me off roughly as he goes to get up only to be taken down once again by Logan. I see the gun slide away from them as I watch horrified as he tazes Logan in the side. I couldn't let Cassidy hurt Logan so I pick up the gun and fire it in the air to get their attention, and then I turn it to Cassidy.

"Logan," I barely say as he gets to his feet as Cassidy moves behind him.

"Veronica, don't do this," he says as he looks back at Cassidy.

"Why not he killed dad," I say crying as I try to keep the gun leveled as I hear sirens in the distance. Logan moves toward me slowly as I try hard not to be altered by him.

"Now give me the gun, Veronica," he whispers to me holding his hand out to me.

"He killed everyone on the bus! He raped me! Logan he killed Mac and Dick," I cry as he turns back to Cassidy in shock before fixing his glaze back on me.

"Look, you are not a killer, Veronica. Give me the gun. Think about our little girl. She's waiting at home for us, don't do anything to keep us from returning to her," he says softly as I waver handing the gun to him. "You're not a killer like him, Veronica. Give me the gun," he says as I drop my arms letting him take the gun from me. He wraps his arms tightly around me as I sob. I watch as Cassidy makes his way to the edge of the roof as he pulls himself on the ledge.

"Beaver, don't!" Logan yells out as Cassidy turns to look at us. We weren't that far from him.

"My name is Cassidy," he says passionately.

"Cassidy, don't," Logan says once again.

"Why not?" he questions as I have nothing to say. We neither say anything at all as he turns to look down and then back at us.

"That's what I thought," he murmurs back as he goes to jump off the ledge as someone jerks him back to the roof taking him by surprise. I look up to see Dick holding his brother down hitting him hard.

"Dick, stop man," Logan says softly holding onto Dick's arm to keep him from hitting his brother any more. I could tell Cassidy was knocked out.

"Mac?" I say as Logan engulfs me in his arms pulling away from him.

"She's alright. Cassidy knocked her out tying her up in their room. I found Dick as I got the text from you," he says pulling me back into his embrace. I was barely holding it together as I watched Dick stumbling around once Cassidy was taken into custody. Leo led the four of us to a waiting SUV as reporters threw questions at us. I looked up once to see Deputy Lamb smirking at me. I lowered my head back to Logan's shoulder crying as we were drove home.

A/N: I apologize for the long hiatuses in between updates. I am working on my Master's and have several papers to write and only get to write when I have a chance. I am working on the next chapter of Redeeming LoVe, but don't know when it'll be posted. I will try to update this one next week. Thanks to all the readers.-jaymelynn143


	24. Chapter 24

Shattered, Forgotten &amp; Treasured

Chapter 24:Sorrow

**Dick**

I am having a hard time believing that my little brother is behind so much destruction all because of Woody Goodman. Why did he have to become the person he is? I mean didn't Beaver, no Cassidy know he had people who would listen to him if he asked for help. I might not have been the best brother in the world, but if he had come to me I would have done everything in my power to see that justice was served.

"Are you okay?" Mac asks as I lean my head on her shoulder in the SUV. We had just gotten through the media frenzy that was waiting for us. Leo had called a few guys to help us out since Lamb was doing nothing but being a jackass to us.

"Not really," I mutter as I tried to focus on anything other than the whimpering sobs coming from Veronica. It killed me to know my brother was the one who hurt her, but more so that he killed her father. I don't know how she could ever look at me again. It killed me that I would probably lose Logan as a friend out of this whole thing.

"What the hell?" I heard Logan mutter as I looked out the window as we pulled up to the gate outside of the house. There were several news vans and reporters everywhere. I pulled Mac closer to me as I watched Logan do the same with Veronica.

"Move out of the way," Leo muttered as he honked the horn several times. We seemed to be getting nowhere as the reports began to get closer to the SUV. I was getting nervous when someone banged on the door. I was about to get out to beat some sense into them when we all jumped as two gun shots were fired and several motorcycles could be heard coming closer. I looked out the back window to see the short bald kid get off his bike while his friends did the same.

"It's alright Bobcat," Logan murmured to Veronica as she looked up just as the kid moved closer to the SUV. Leo took the distraction to move into the now open gate.

"Come on Mac," I said as I closed the front door after watching Logan carry Veronica into the house and up the stairs.

"I feel so bad for Vee," I heard Wallace say once I sat down on the sofa.

"Where were you man?" I grumbled as he just looked at me.

"I was getting it on with some girl. We were just about to head to our room when there was an explosion, she freaked and took off. I decided to just come back here since I knew my mom was here," he says as I see Logan walking into the living room. He looked like hell.

"Dude, I'm sorry about Keith," I say as he looks up at me and slowly nods his head.

"Yeah," he mutters as if he was lost in his thoughts.

"I'll make sure to be gone before Veronica wakes," I say as I head toward the stairs to pack, but I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Logan questions as I try to look anywhere but at him.

"Veronica! Why would she want me in her life after everything Bea… Cassidy did to her?" I asked loudly as I watched his eyes cloud over before he moved closer to me. I thought for sure he was going to beat the crap out of me.

"That isn't your fault. How the hell do you even think you are at fault for what he did? Did you hold his hand as he pushed the button on the phone, or when he did what he did to Veronica? Dick you had nothing to do with that man," he mutters running his hands through his hair.

"I was a…" I don't get to finish my thought as we all hear a loud scream and Logan runs up that stairs taking tow at a time.

***LoVe***

**Veronica**

_Where am I? Oh my god he's really dead!_ I think as I finally find my voice and scream. I don't know what's killing me more knowing that someone I thought was my friend had killed so many innocent people to keep a secret or that I wished he was dead.

"Veronica," I vaguely hear someone say as I begin a new round of crying letting the night come back to me. "I'm so sorry," I hear as I am pulled closer to the voice.

"Logan," I cry as I turn around in his grip and cling to him. I had just lost my dad and the only person I could totally be honest with was him. I couldn't believe one stupid person could hurt so many people and leave so many lives ruined.

"How is she?" I hear a soft woman's voice.

"I don't know mom. Veronica is the strongest person I know, but I feel this might have broken her," Logan mutters still rubbing my back.

"We'll all keep her grounded. You need to be strong for her. I know Keith was a good man, a great dad, just keep reminding her how much you love her. I'm not going to say it's going to be easy, but things will get better," she says as I feel the bed move. I reach out my hand on instinct opening my eyes to make sure Logan wasn't leaving.

"I was going to get Gracelynn," he says softly as I look from him to Lynn.

"She's fine," I whisper as I struggle to get up as banging begins downstairs like someone was pounding on the front door. I flinched at the noise.

"You two stay here. Call Jake," Lynn says as she leaves the two of us alone. I watch as Logan calls Jake and speaks to him. I wasn't as sure what was being said, but I could see his burning hatred in his eyes.

"No, doubt," Logan mutters as I look to our door as it is pushed open. "Yeah, I'll make sure she knows that. Thanks," he says hanging up.

"You have some nerve barging into our home like you just did," Dick yells from the outside of our room.

"Don't worry Cassablancas! I'm here for you as well," Lamb sneers as he turns back to look at us.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Logan snaps getting up from the bed as I move to get up with him. He holds onto me pushing me behind him.

"I told you kids I would see you in the morning. It's 9 and I want statements from all of you before you have time to make up stories," he snaps as I go to move, but can't find the energy to do so.

"Do you even think about other people? My wife lost her father last night and all you are worried about is getting some damn statements," Logan yells as I get worried I might lose him too.

"Stop," I yell not even knowing I was doing it until I had said the word.

"Shh!" Logan says pulling me closer.

"Let's go. Sacs round up all the kids and load them up," Lamb snaps barking out more orders as I follow Logan out the door and down the stairs. I see Lynn talking with Leo who looked murderous. She was shaking as he spoke to her. We are led to a patrol car and pushed into it. Lamb gets in and makes his way to the gate. I must have phased out because next thing I knew we were at the station.

I walked dumbly into the station looking around as I saw all the reporters snapping photo after photo as well as other people just looking at me. Logan though never let go of me through the whole time. Once we were inside Lamb barked out more orders as I felt someone grabbing my arm, pulling me away.

"No, no," I scream clinging to Logan as much as I could, but I felt like I couldn't hold on anymore as I began to feel his shirt material slipping through my fingers. I don't know what happened, but I began lashing out at who ever just ripped me away from my husband.

***LoVe***

**Logan**

I was pissed off as I watched some asphat pulling my wife from me. I was holding onto her as much as I could, but Lamb was jerking me the opposite way. The moment I felt her hand slip I watched as she began to attack the Deputy who had her. I quickly jerked out of Lamb's grasp and pulled Veronica into my arms. She was crying and gasping for air.

"What the hell just happened?" Jake Kanes snapped as I looked up at him. He made his way toward us and crouched down moving some of Veronica's hair out of her face.

"I was separating them to question them," Lamb snaps as if he was better than anyone else.

"Veronica, shh!" I whispered into her ear as I tried to sooth her crying. I wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of Lamb for what he just did, but right now I was needed where I was. "It's going to be alright," I say softly moving her blonde tresses out of her eyes as she looked up at me. Her eyes were so sad looking that I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and bolt, but I knew Lamb would just haul the two of us back in here.

"I want to go home," she groans as I can see Jake from the corner of my eye moving closer to us.

"Deputy, I think I'll come in with Veronica and Logan during their statement," he says as I slowly move to stand still clutching Veronica to me.

"I don't care who you are Kane, but in here I am in charge," Lamb sneers at Jake.

"That may be true, but questioning a minor without his or her parents is unlawful and evidence collected could be inadmissible in court," he quickly replies as I watch Lamb lose some of his cockiness.

"Well I hate to break it for you Kane, but you aren't Veronica's or Logan's parent, so you can't go in," he throws back as I see a small smile form on Jake's lips.

"Keith made me Veronica's legal guardian in case something like this might happen," Jake retorts as he pulls a file folder out of a brief case. "Logan's mom couldn't be here due to trying to keep things normal, so she made sure I was on file for Logan as well," he smirks toward Lamb as he hands him the two sheets of paper.

I watched the horrified expression appear on Lamb's face as he looks over the papers. Jake also said the two of us would be spoken to at the same time since he observed the breakdown, and didn't want Veronica to fall apart. I knew deep down that it was more or less to rub Lamb's face into what a screw up he was. Veronica barely spoke only giving simple answers to Lamb's questions as I tried to give the details. I don't know how long we were in the small interrogation room, but I was getting tried of the repeated questions and stupid digs at Keith.

"I think the kids have answered your questions," Jake finally says as I felt myself let go of the breath I was holding to keep myself in my chair holding onto Veronica.

"I still have several questions," he mutters to Jake, but Jake had already motioned for us to get up.

"If you need to speak to any of the kids again, call my head of security. I am going to ask the judge to keep you as far away from them as possible," Jake says as he opens the door for us. I thought he was following behind us when I heard him speak again. "Don't think I have forgotten how you treated Veronica when she reported her rape! I plan on filing a motion for her as soon as we find out about Keith," he snaps as I see Veronica lift her head slightly. I knew she heard the anger in his voice just like I did because I felt her shudder.

I saw Mac and Dick sitting on one of the benches outside of the main hallway near the vending machine. Mac had looked like she had been crying while Dick was rubbing her back. I saw a tall black man talking with Leo right behind them.

"Clarence, I need you to escort the kids back to their house. Meg and Duncan should be there packing their things. I don't want you to leave the house until I get there," Jake says as he looks back toward Lamb who was staring at us.

"Yes, Sir," the man says as I pull the hood over Veronica's head as we are led out the front doors to the media circus. I held Veronica as tightly as I could to keep her safe. We were just about to get into the SUV when someone through red liquid one us. Clarence pushed us into the SUV while Leo burned rubber. It was silent on the way back to the house. I tried to sit still to keep from smearing the red paint. I thought at first it was blood, but no it was paint. Dick was muttering under his breath as Mac huddled into him.

"What happened to you guys?" my mom asked the moment we walked into the kitchen. I led Veronica into the laundry room helping her out of her painted clothing. I looked in the dryer to find a long t-shirt for her to put on. I could vaguely hear Dick telling my mom what happened. I couldn't care less right now in anything but what I was currently doing.

"_Clinton, we are live in Neptune, California where chaos has happened over night. It has been less than a week since Action Star Aaron Echolls was convicted of hurting Lilly Kane as well as his own son and daughter-in-law, Lynn Echolls came forward as being alive and not dead, but right now the most shocking story of this little town is one of murder, bombings, and an explosive molestation case._

_Last night a plane with the Mayor Woody Goodman was blown up as it was getting ready to land. Woody Goodman was accused of molesting several of his little league boys when they played for his team. One of the boys took it a little too far when several of the other boys wanted to come clean about the matter. The bus crashed that killed 7 people and injuring 3 others was to cover up what had happened._

_The culprit behind this ordeal is a 17 year old Neptune High School boy who tried to attempt suicide when he was confronted by classmates. He in turn blew the plane up to get his revenge on Woody Goodman, but he also murdered the once beloved Sheriff Keith Mars who had went after the Mayor to bring him back to face charges. It is rumored that Veronica Mars-Echolls and Logan Echolls were both on the roof of the Grand confronting the boy. It was the boys own brother who kept him from jumping and ending his life. We will bring you breaking news on this story as soon as we get it,"_ the reporter says as I look over to see Veronica staring at the TV.

"Keith could still be alive," I say as she looks up at me.

"Logan he was on the plane. He didn't answer his phone. I didn't even get to say goodbye," she says as I see the tears in Dick's eyes. He was beating himself up over this whole thing even though it wasn't his fault.

"Yes, but he could have been lucky," I say as she gives me a weak smile.

"I wish it were true, but with an explosion like what we saw it's unlikely that he did," she whispers as I pull her into my arms. I know she's right, but I just don't want it to be true. Once Jake got to the house he helped us get statements written up and made sure we were safe before he left. Veronica broke down once more when she found out Meg had decided to go with Duncan to Napa for the summer. Meg wanted Lilly to bond with Duncan and the ice queen.

Veronica was waiting for me in our bed after everyone left. I made sure to feed Gracelynn and my mom decided to keep her with Wyatt and her for the night. I went into the bathroom to shower and brush my teeth. As I was pulling on a shirt I heard Veronica click off the TV.

"Nothing on," I questioned as she looked toward me.

"No, it was all about dad and Cassidy," she says as I get on the bed.

"I know things look bad right now, but I promise you things are going to get better. We will grow stronger form this," I say as she snuggles into my side.

"I know, but it was my dad," she cries as I wrap my arms around her. I knew Keith was everything to her, but I was hoping that as we started the next chapter of our lives we could make sure he didn't die for no reason. All I wanted to see right now was Cassidy getting his just deserts.

***LoVe***

**UPoV**

I couldn't believe we had a severe burn victim. It was hard to tell who he was because he was so badly burned, but hopefully as he healed we would find out his identity. We had called the Sheriff's department, but Don Lamb told us to keep it under wraps in case this was a murder for hire. I really didn't think that, but who was I to argue with the law.

I only found it strange that the man was found unresponsive in a swimming pool in the 09er neighborhood. He wasn't a missing person so who was he and why was Lamb hiding him.

888LoVe888

A/N: I hate to see this story come to an end, but this is the end for now. I plan to write a sequel to this going over the college year and Logan meeting his other siblings as well as Lianne confronting Veronica. There is more to this story, but I am going to take a small break to brainstorm. See you all soon!


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